MOSCOW, Mar 23, Oleg Bogatov. Expansion of the Russian Premier League (RPL) ) up to 18 teams is possible and necessary, but at the same time it is necessary to maintain the sports principle and structure of the competition, the third and fourth clubs of the Football National League (FNL) should hold transitional matches for entering the RPL, said the ex-head coach of Lokomotiv Moscow and the Russian national team Yuri Semin. The RPL clubs voted at the general meeting on Tuesday to increase the number of teams in the league from 16 to 18. The decision to expand the RPL can be made on Wednesday at a meeting of the executive committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU). According to the current RPL regulations, the teams that took 15th and 16th places leave, they are replaced by the two strongest FNL teams. The clubs that will take 13th and 14th places play play-offs for the right to remain in the RPL with rivals who finished the FNL championship in third and fourth positions.
