President of the Football Federation of Ukraine Hryhoriy Surkis announced shortly before the beginning of EURO 2012 championship that he will not run for a new term at the next FFU congress, scheduled for September 2, according to KW.
Surkis , who has headed the federation since 2000, said in a KW interview that Ukrainian football will be unable to resolve its problems unless club owners reach about a coordinated policy with uniform rules. The FFU president said the main problems in Ukrainian football are the absence of real competition in the national championship with the exception of two top clubs, dubious refereeing and the domination of foreign players. The later poses a problem for the formation of the national team and hooliganism at the stadiums.
Surkis repeatedly stressed that football in Ukraine is a non-rewarding business run by a few very wealthy individuals. Instead, it merely serves the purpose of achieving a range of objectives, such as political influence, satisfaction of ambitions, fighting competitors, etc.
There are also other reasons, Surkis said, including love for football, but not only that. From time to time, football tycoons can receive land plots, tax preferences or beneficial contracts for their companies within the framework of sports programs.
Ukrainian professional football teams currently fully depend on the subsidies of their owners, their well-being, mood, etc. A source inside one of the Premier League teams told KW on conditions of anonymity, they have quite a diverse form of ownership of different facilities, which all together form a football team. In many cases, the club is incorporated as an NGO that has a commercial structure – a stadium, and a charity sector: a children’s sports school.
