Krylya Sovetov vow to clear ₽500m debt and escape transfer ban

Samara football club Krylya Sovetov has found itself at the center of a financial scandal. The Russian Football Union (RFU) has imposed a transfer ban on the club due to a debt to the company RT-Kapital (a subsidiary of Rostec), amounting to 519 million rubles (about $5.8 million at current rates). However, the club«s management assures that it will manage to resolve all issues before the transfer window closes.

The club«s debt to RT-Kapital dates back to 2016. In December 2025, an arbitration court ordered Krylya Sovetov to pay over 928 million rubles (about $10.3 million). The club partially repaid the debt: at the end of December, it paid 535 million rubles (about $5.9 million), and in January—another 54 million rubles (about $600,000). However, the remaining debt of 519 million rubles (about $5.8 million; of which 454 million is the principal and 65 million is an enforcement fee) remains unpaid.

This has led to harsh measures: a transfer ban from the RFU (the club cannot register new players), a new lawsuit for 146 million rubles (about $1.6 million) from RT-Kapital (dated January 19), and a notice of intent to bankrupt the club, published by RT-Kapital on January 21.

Chairman of the board of directors of Krylya Sovetov, Dmitry Yakovlev, stated that the club plans to fully repay the debt to RT-Kapital by February 3. This will allow the transfer ban to be lifted before the transfer window closes (February 19) and enable the registration of new footballers.

«We anticipated that this could happen… In turn, we plan to close the existing debt obligations,» news agency TASS quotes Yakovlev.

Note that if Krylya Sovetov fails to keep its promise, the club risks not only being without squad reinforcements but also facing bankruptcy proceedings initiated by one of the largest state-owned holdings. Currently, Samara fans are following the club«s financial maneuvers as closely as the game on the field.