New Football Cup Makes Debut in Russia

Russian Football Premier League's Cup makes its debut this Saturday.

The new tournament's schedule provides that starting from the quarterfinals each of the 16 qualifiers shall meet its opponent twice (on home turf and away). Three pairs - Dinamo (Moscow) - Torpedo (Moscow), Zenit (St Petersburg) - TsSKA (Moscow), and Saturn-REN TV (Moscow Region) - Spartak (Moscow) - are going to be in the limelight of Saturday's big football day.

Interestingly, the Cup that will go to the tournament's winner is still at the design stage.

The tournament's prize money shall amount to at least $50,000, with the winner and the runner-up receiving 75% and 25% of it respectively. Should a team win the Cup five times overall or three times in succession, it shall be entitled to retain the Cup for good.

The return quarterfinal matches are scheduled for April 2nd, with the first ever Russian Football Premier League's Cup tournament to finish on October 10th, the date set for the second final match of the competition.