Roman Abramovich announced the cessation of financing football development in Russia. The National Academy of Football, which functioned at the expense of the oligarch, completes its work, because the goals set for him are considered achieved. During its functioning, the Fund built about one hundred and fifty football fields, took part in the development of the Yuri Konoplev Academy of Football, as well as fulfill the contractual obligations of the RFU to the ex-mentor of the Russian national team by Gus Hiddin.
National Academy of Football lasted nine years – since 2004. Initially, the annual budget of the organization was estimated at fifty million dollars (at that time it was comparable with the budget of the wealthy club of the Russian Premier League), but was subsequently revised towards reducing. According to Forbes magazine, the total costs of Abramovich for domestic football amounted to two hundred million dollars, and this amount is quite justified. Thus, the average expenditure of the funds of the NAF reached about twenty million dollars annually.
It is reasonable to assume that the largest costs of the National Academy of Football are in the first years of its activity: first of all, we are talking about sponsoring the construction of football fields in several regions of the country intended for children and youth schools. Considerable monetary injections required the construction of the sports complex of the Konoplev Academy in the suburbs of the city of Togliatti.
Several famous players have been brought up at the training center for young football players: many of his pupils are in demand at a professional level. The most famous graduate of the Konoplev Academy is Alan Dzagoev. Not so long ago, Arthur Yusupov was invited to the Russian national team, who is a player in the foundation of the Moscow Dynamo, and Igor Gorbatenko played for the metropolitan “Spartak” for some time – though he could not gain a foothold in the team. Such a fate befell Dmitry Ryzhov in CSKA.