MOSCOW: Russia midfielder Igor Semshov has attacked the decision by the domestic league authorities to line up the season with western Europe.

The Russian season, traditionally, began in spring and ended in the autumn for climatic reasons. However the current season is lasting 18 months to bring Russia into an autumn-to-spring schedule.

Semshov, in an interview with RIA Novosti, accused the authorities of taking a decision which has backfired.

He said: “We’re professional players and want to play in decent conditions, not the ones we’re forced into. Everyone wants the Russian championship to grow and stand side by side with European leagues, but now it’s clear that it’s not growing but getting worse.

“What enjoyment does the spectator get out of the kind of football that we’re forced to play? I get the impression that people changed things with absolutely no knowledge of the climatic conditions – and they don’t know what country we live in.

“Take the dates of the first round of matches in the championship this year: It was obvious about [a clash with] the presidential elections yet we couldn’t decide when to start. It’s a circus.”

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