To attract attention: Media League clubs will try to pass the second round of the Russian Cup

The teams of the semi-amateur Media Football League continue to compete in the Russian Cup. The second round matches are waiting for them this week. All five media clubs that showed up for the tournament made their way into it. Moreover, two of them entered there under rather specific conditions, teaming up with amateur groups. For example, Moscow—based Brokboys partnered with Fankom from Kirov, and Yekaterinburg-based SyndEcat partnered with Noginsk-based Krasny Znamya. SKA Rostov, FC 10 Moscow and 2Drots will also compete in the Cup. How they passed the first round and whether they will finally reach the tournament stages, where they can meet with the RPL clubs, is in the Izvestia article.

Media clubs have been successful in the Cup so far

All five teams of the Media League have already passed one round — the 1/256 finals. In previous seasons, and media clubs have been competing in the Russian Cup since 2022, there were not so many representatives of this subculture in this tournament. The most famous and successful 2Drots team got into the Cup this time by invitation from the title sponsor of the RFU.

In 2023, this team reached the 1/32 finals, where it lost to Khimki, who played in the First League (0:2). She had one step left in order to get to the 1/16 finals, where representatives of the RPL begin to perform in the Path of the regions. Let's remind that the teams of the Media League have never reached the Cup before meeting with the teams of the Premier League. In addition to 2Drots, Amkal was in the immediate vicinity, having lost in the 1/16 finals to Krasnoyarsk Yenisei last fall (1:2).

This year, Amkala is not in the Cup. And 2Drots started with a 2-0 home victory over Orel. This match was the last in the career of the famous football player Fyodor Kudryashov, a quarterfinalist of the 2018 World Cup in the Russian national team. Without him, the team will play away against Shumbrat Saransk on August 12. Anar Abdullaev, a popular twitch streamer with a million subscribers, is playing for 2Drots in this draw.

Interestingly, since this year, the Drots have been coached by amateur coach Shamil Kurbanov. He is 33 years old. He only recently started studying to get a category B coaching license. Previously, even media clubs invited professional coaches. For example, Dmitry Kuznetsov, the former captain of CSKA, the 1991 USSR champion, and a participant in the 1994 World Cup as part of the Russian national team, worked at 2Drots for a long time. The rest of the media teams are now also trained by professionals.

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If we see Idova, we won't see Pisarsky.

FC 10, which was created by the famous comedian Azamat Musagaliyev, qualified for the Russian Cup by winning the Media League Cup. Brian Idowu, a former striker for the Nigerian national team, Amkar Perm, Lokomotiv Moscow and Khimki, plays for him.

As a finalist of the seventh season of the IFF, Rostov SKA, owned by rapper Basta, got into the National Cup. The army team from the Don returns to this tournament three years later. However, then they played there as a professional club of the Second League. Since then, they have gone into media football. Their main star, former forward of Orenburg, Samara Krylia Sovetov and Sochi, Vladimir Pisarsky, will not be able to play in the Cup due to suspension from the RFU.

A year ago, the ethics committee suspended him for four years, three of them suspended. And in the fall, he added four more months to the actual disqualification. Thus, the period of ineligibility will expire only in the fall. Pisarsky was accused of betting on a match with his own participation through his friend, which is prohibited by the RPL regulations. The footballer himself denies this, so he filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne (CAS). A hearing on the case was held in the spring, but no decision has been announced.

The disqualification does not apply to media football, but Pisarsky cannot play in the Cup, as it is a tournament under the auspices of the RFU. Zenit Penza passed SKA without him (2:2, 6 on penalties:5) and on August 12 he will play away against Spartak Tambov.

The other three media teams will meet in the second round with Dynamo teams. "Funk Brock Boys" will host representatives of Kirov at home. Krasnoe Znamya will play Bryansk on its home field, and FC 10 will visit Dynamo St. Petersburg. There will also be 22 more matches in the 1/128 finals with the participation of representatives of the amateur league and the professional Second League.