New format for the Russian Cup announced
The Russian Football Union have anounced the new format for this year's Russian Cup.
Russian Premier Liga teams and those from the first and second divisions as well as amateur clubs will take two different paths to the later stages of the tournament.
The Russian Cup will be held in two stages, the first from August to December and the second from February to May, with the final taking place in June 2023. The Russian Cup is based on the idea of elimination after two defeats (Double Elimination).
The RPL path
The 16 RPL teams are divided into 4 groups of 4 teams with the teams playing a home and away round robin. The first two placed teams head to the RPL playoffs, with the third place team joining the regional path (see below), the fourth place team are eliminated
Pot 1: Zenit, Sochi, Dynamo, Krasnodar
Pot 2: CSKA, Lokomotiv, Akhmat, Krylya Sovetov
Pot 3: Rostov, Spartak, Pari NN , Ural
Pot 4: Khimki, Torpedo, Fakel, Orenburg
Regional path
The first round will include lower league sides who will be joined by higher ranked sides as the tournament progresses over six knockout rounds with the eventual winners making it to the second stage.
The second stage next year will then include the third placed RPL clubs and the teams will compete over a further number of rounds until one is left and they make it to the final.
The final will be held in June 2023 with the winners of the RPL and Regional pathes meeting in the final.
A more detailed explanation of the tournament is available here.
