Abramovich pays for Russia’s head coach
5th December 2008
As Chelsea feel fiscal pinch, Roman Abramovich dips into his pocket to pay Russia’s head coach salary.
Roman Abramovich appears to be reigning in expenses at Stamford Bridge, but the Chelsea boss is reported to have delved into his cosmic wealth to help the Russian Football Union pay Guus Hiddink's wages.
The Russian oligarch has coughed up over £3.4million to cover the Dutchman's salary after it was reported that Hiddink had not been paid for two months as Russia’s head coach.
Abramovich wants Chelsea to be self-funding in the near future and the English club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, has repetitively insisted the club will not be flashing a lot of money during the January transfer window.
However, it was reported that Mr Abramovich has agreed new funding for his home country's federation at a meeting with the Russian Football Union president and sports minister, Vitali Mutko, and the head of Abramovich's National Football Academy, Sergei Kapkov.
Kapkov confirmed the £2.5million deal and said: 'It is important for us that Guus is calm about his future and the future of the national side.'
The global economic crisis has hit Russia extremely hard and football is no exception. Spartak Moscow and CSKA Moscow have reportedly put plans to build new stadiums on hold and two Moscow Regional sides are planning to merge in order to remain afloat.
