FK Moscow pull out of Russian League
Reuters - Friday 05 February 2010, 17:22
MOSCOW - FK Moscow have withdrawn from the
Russian Premier League after the club's main sponsor Norilsk
Nickel withdrew its financing, the nickel miner said in a
statement on Friday.
FK Moscow, who came sixth in the league last year, will
retain its status as a professional club but will not take part
in the 2010 season, which runs from March to November, the
statement said.
It did not say who would take the club's place in 2010 or
whether the club hoped to return to the premier league the
following season.
Norilsk, the world's biggest nickel and palladium producer,
tried to sell FK Moscow last year but could not find a buyer.
It says the club is too far from the firm's base in the
Siberian city of Norilsk, 3,000 kilometres (1,850 miles)
northeast of Moscow.
Many Russian football clubs earn the majority of their
income through sponsorship deals with wealthy local companies.