Both government and company budgets are drawn up according to a calendar year starting on 1 January.

In the case of a national championship running from autumn to spring, some clubs could find themselves in a state of uncertainty, as financing for the second half of the season could not be guaranteed.

So, with all that in mind, lower leagues clubs have been accusing the RFU of acting in the interest of several rich Premier League clubs interested in synchronising the national championship with the ones in England, Germany and Spain.

World Cup factor But the RFU argues that the new “autumn-to-spring” model would allow clubs to earn more money.

Football officials say that fewer people attend football games in summer, choosing to go on holiday or spend weekends in their country houses instead.

Also, they insist, it would be easier to sell television rights, attract big sponsors and buy good players abroad if the national tournament could be synchronised with other major European championships.

But Mr Navosha says that the player-transfer argument does not really stand up, as Russian transfer windows – the periods when a club could buy or sell players – have already been synchronised with the rest of Europe anyway.

“Last summer, seven players were bought by Russian clubs for 7m to 22m euros each,” he says.

While the battles over the new format of the Russian national championship are being fought, most experts agree that the country will benefit from organising the 2018 World Cup.

“It will be an additional stimulus for upgrading Russia’s football infrastructure,” says Mr Belous.

Mr Navosha also points out that the 10bn-rouble figure, announced by Mr Fursenko, was calculated before Russia won the right to host the World Cup.

“No doubt, changes will need to be made to the new programme of developing football in Russia,” he said.