Perm football club "Zvezda" may be liquidated

The sports organization is expected to close after the end of the current playing season.  According to the experts, the reason for the closure of the Perm football club is difficult financial situation, which is affected by the situation with the support of sports from the regional budget and the problems of attracting money from sponsors.

The beginning of 2022 was marked by the fact that the payments of wages to employees and players were delayed by two months.  At the same time, the club's management was waiting for financial support from the regional authorities.  It is known that the government of the region supports sports teams on a 50/50 basis, which forces the club management to independently seek the necessary extrabudgetary sources of funding.  In 2021, “Zvezda” FC did not confirm the required amount of such funds.

To date, debt obligations to the players have already been repaid.  The press service of the regional administration reported that the necessary subsidy funds were transferred to the club as part of the first tranche for 2022.  However, sources in the regional government report that the “Zvezda” club may be merged with another Permian club, “Amkar-Perm”.

According to one version, the reason for the merger may be a difficult economic situation, in which it becomes impractical to support both sports organizations.  Now Perm is represented by two clubs in the second league.  The merger would allow to concentrate on maintaining the success of one club.

At the same time, representatives of clubs interviewed by journalists did not confirm such information.  President of “Amkar-Perm” FC Valery Chuprakov told URA.RU that plans to merge with the club have not yet been discussed.  The co-founder of “Zvezda” FC Alexei Popov also called a possible merger of the two organizations illogical.

We should remind our readers that “Zvezda” is a legendary football club from Perm, founded in 1932.  The organization was liquidated in 1997, but in 2018 it experienced a new birth thanks to the support of the administration of the ex-governor of the region Maxim Reshetnikov.

“Amkar” FC, founded in 1994, previously participated in the Premier League games, but in 2018 it went through bankruptcy and was liquidated.  However, later the leadership of the region had changed, and the new government made a decision to revive the club.  As a result, the “Amkar” brand was bought out with the funds of the regional budget, in 2021 “Amkar” FC was registered as an ANO.  Chuprakov became the president of the club, and Rustem Khuzin was appointed as a head coach.