Dagestan: Before the Money

Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia, 2009.

On November 4, 2009, Anzhi won the Russian First Division and secured promotion to the Premier League. Dagestan in the North Caucasus is one of the poorest regions of Russia: in 2011 the average monthly salary was about $350, unemployment exceeded 20%, and separatism and radical Islamization were strong. In 2010 the club was bought by Suleyman Kerimov, and from 2011 hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on transfers and contracts. Samuel Eto’o earned about $20 million per year, while Roberto Carlos and Lassana Diarra received about $5 million each; other players earned millions. The total cost of the Anzhi project amounted to up to 25% of the region’s annual budget and became one of the first examples of this kind in the Third World.

In 2013 the project was abruptly scaled down, players were sold off, and in 2014 the club was relegated from the Premier League.