CONCLUSION
The goal of this paper was to develop a strategic business plan to create an affiliated football club for one of the clubs of the Russian Premier League outside Russian Federation’s borders through the geographical expansion. To achieve the goal the 9 objectives identified in the introduction were achieved: Describe the organization and explain the managerial problem. Explain the paper’s structure and methodology in detail. Analyze the environment of football industry in Russia. Analyze the performance of farm-teams and their place in the hierarchy of football leagues in Russian Federation. Identify the club for the expansion into a foreign market. Identify a host country. Conduct environmental analysis of the chosen country. Develop a strategic plan for internationalization. Identify the philosophy and develop the strategy of the club's development. Thus, based on the objectives of this work, it was divided into 3 chapters, the first of which is "Russian football industry characteristics", the second - "The choice of potential club & country for internationalization" and the last chapter is called - "Internationalization Plan". The methodology of this work did not involve a large number of different analysis tools, however, the most important of them can be highlighted The Funnel Technique, which was adapted specifically for this adapted. Since a huge number of clubs and countries were considered, this technique helped to narrow down the selection of candidates at each of its stages, based on the criteria established for this selection. In addition to this technique, a thorough analysis of the external environment of the football industries in Russia and subsequently Serbia was necessary, which was carried out by applying the PEST analysis tool.   The Russian Premier League (RPL), as mentioned at the beginning of the work, is the highest professional football league in Russia and it as an organization faced the following managerial problem: due to the current geopolitical situation, Russian clubs are no longer allowed to participate in international competitions starting from the first quarter of 2022. In turn, this problem has led to a number of other problems within the Russian football industry, chief among them is the stagnation of the industry and the gradual decline in the skill level of players, and with it, the level of all football in Russia. Thus, this work aimed to find a way to solve this problem and describe it in detail.  To do this, it was first necessary to find out the main factors influencing the external environment on the football industry in Russia by applying the PEST analysis tool. Based on this analysis, two more main factors were identified, in addition to sanctions, which have a negative impact on the popularity and demand for football in Russia. In addition to sanctions, the introduction of the Fan ID system has dramatically affected matchday attendance at RPL games, reducing it several times in the season 2022/2023. Also, the emergence and rapid growth of the popularity of media football has lured a significant proportion of fans to its side, which has also reduced the awareness and popularity of football in Russia. Thus, it was concluded that Russian football needs a gradual return to European one in order to halt and reverse the downward trend in the level of football excellence in Russia and to once again attract interest and increase the popularity of football in Russia. Since Russian clubs and the national team are not allowed to participate in European competitions, it means that an affiliated club needs to be established abroad.  However, inside Russia clubs already have affiliates in the lower leagues, so it is necessary to understand their current level and mission through an internal analysis of the hierarchy of football leagues and teams within them in Russia. Based on this analysis, it became clear that only Krasnodar football club has a well-established system of affiliates in its hierarchy, while half of the RPL clubs do not have affiliates in the lower leagues at all due to the current financial difficulties. Thus, if affiliates in Russia are not fulfilling their function and are unprofitable, it was again concluded that the creation of an affiliated club could be a solution not only to the problem of stagnating skill levels of players, but could also be less unprofitable or even profitable in the future.   It was then necessary to select a club for internationalization and the creation of an affiliated club abroad. For this purpose, all 16 clubs which took part in the RPL in the season 2022/2023 were taken into account. For this purpose, the already mentioned The Funnel Technique was applied in which the criteria for the selection of candidates were selected. The first criterion of selection was the indicator of the financial stability of the club, as internationalization is primarily an investment, as a result, 10 clubs were eliminated at once. Next, 3 criteria were considered together, namely the current position on the market, brand recognition and stability within the club and other indirect factors. The highest priority option was FC Zenit from St. Petersburg and it was selected for internationalization.   Once the club for expansion had been determined, it was necessary to decide on the country to enter its football market. The Funnel Technique was also applied, with 3 criteria, which subsequently reduced the selection to 2 candidates: Turkey and Serbia. The first criterion was the mandatory membership of the country in the European Football Association UEFA, such countries are 54. Next, such an indicator as the rating of friendliness of the country in relation to Russia and vice versa was considered, again given the difficult geopolitical situation. As a result of this selection there are only 6 candidates left. Among them were chosen two main candidates who are currently much preferable to others based on the level of football development of these countries. After the pool was narrowed down to 2 candidates, an analysis of the football industries of these two countries was conducted, which considered the indicator of the competitive environment and the level of initial investment. Here, internationalization in Serbia was chosen much more effectively than in Turkey.   Once the choice was made in Serbia, it was necessary to analyze the external environment of this country by applying the PEST analysis tool in order to verify the choice and consider the main opportunities and threats that could be faced by Gazprom's management in Serbia. It turned out that Serbia is ideal for the internationalization of a Russian club because, first, the Serbian Superliga has no limit on foreign players, which means a problem-free application of Russian players to participate in the tournament, and second, the Serbian Football Union (FSS) claims that they need to improve the financial situation of Superliga clubs through investments from both within the country and from Russia, given the increased volume of trade between these countries. Another important conclusion from this analysis is that in Serbia there is serious centralization in the capital, so the affiliated club should be based precisely in Belgrade. After choosing the country and city to enter, it was necessary to determine the method of entry into the Serbian football market. For this purpose, the options of creating a club from scratch, joint-venture and the option of absorbing an existing club were considered. As a result, the choice was made in favor of absorbing an existing club from Serbia, because the other options are more costly and risky.  For the takeover it is necessary to choose a club from Belgrade, so again The Funnel Technique was applied, however, in this selection the pool was not narrowed, but a list was created in order of priority based on the criteria:  FC Vojdovac OFK Beograd FC Cukarički FC Zeleznicar Pančevo FC Rad FC IMT Belgrade FC Radnicki Belgrad This decision was due to the fact that if one club is chosen, then there is a risk of rejection of the sale of the club by management. The list was compiled in that order based on the division in which the club will compete next season, the potential deal price, the club's existing stadium and condition, and the club's history and achievements. At the end, the philosophy of the affiliated club and its development strategy were described by setting goals in the short, medium and long term.  To summarize, it is necessary to highlight the opportunities and advantages that all parties to this transaction will receive.  Serbia:  Firstly, it gets another club with ambition and decent financing, which will be able to impose the championship fight against Crvena Zvezda and Partizan, which means more intrigue in the Serbian championship, and thus increased interest in the league within the country. Secondly, it solves the problem of poor financing of at least one football club in the country, since it will be sponsored by a foreign investor, as well as improved infrastructure of the club at the expense of Gazprom. Third, it attracts a huge fan base from Russia, which consequently increases the popularity of the league and profits from the sale of TV rights. The only disadvantages may be discontent on the part of the fan base of the merged club, but this situation will stabilize over time and given the good results of the club.  Russia: Firstly, FC Zenit (Gazprom) gets the opportunity to develop its talents in Europe, thus overcoming sanctions from UEFA and thus solving the problem of Russian players' admission to European competitions. Second, it increases its presence in Europe, opening up opportunities to diversify its assets, which leads to the possibility of a more effective strategy for developing its talents. Third, by integrating into a more successful and stronger football market, it opens up opportunities for the exchange of experience between specialists from Russia and Serbia.  As a result, the opening of the affiliated club will help stop the stagnation of Russian football and contribute to a gradual return to European one, while offering benefits to both the Serbian and Russian football markets.       
The paper discusses the problems and options for the Russian Premier League (RPL) club's development through the intervention of the European Football Association (UEFA). The main problem is the stagnation of the Russian Football industry and the gradual decline in the skill level of players. The other problems are the sanctions, the introduction of the Fan ID System and the increasing popularity of media Football. The author also discusses the choice of the country for the intervention, the options for the club's sale and the opportunities for the Russian and Serbian fan bazas.