2002 was the first season of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

. While the structure of the competition did not change, the top level clubs gained independence from the Professional Football League. Spartak's six-year dominance in the league was broken by Lokomotiv.

Teams

As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2002 season, with the name of the league changing from the 'Top Division' to the 'Premier League'. After the 2001 season, Fakel Voronezh and Chernomorets Novorossiysk were relegated to the 2002 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Uralan Elista and Shinnik Yaroslavl, the winners and runners up of the 2001 Russian First Division.

Venues

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Standings

Championship play-off

Results

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Awards

On December 10

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

named its list of 33 top players:

;Goalkeepers # Sergei Ovchinnikov (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Ruslan Nigmatullin (CSKA Moscow) # Valeri Chizhov (Saturn) ;Sweeper # Sergei Ignashevich (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Sargis Hovsepyan (Zenit) # Bohdan Shershun (CSKA Moscow) ;Right backs # Vadim Evseev (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Dmytro Parfenov (Spartak Moscow) # Dmitri Sennikov (Lokomotiv Moscow) ;Stopper # Gennadiy Nizhegorodov (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Omari Tetradze (Alania) ;Left backs # Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Ibra Kébé (Spartak Moscow) # Denis Yevsikov (CSKA Moscow) ;Defensive midfielders #

Elvir Rahimić Elvir Rahimić (born 4 April 1976) is a Bosnian football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Bosnian Premier League club Željezničar. Rahimić spent the majority of his career playing for Russian Premier League ...

(CSKA Moscow) # Yevgeni Aldonin (Rotor) # Igor Semshov (Torpedo Moscow) ;Right wingers # Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow) # Andrei Arshavin (Zenit) # Ognjen Koroman (Dynamo Moscow) ;Central midfielders # Dmitri Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Vladimir Maminov (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow) ;Left wingers # Andrei Karyaka (Krylia Sovetov) # Andrei Solomatin (CSKA Moscow) # Igor Yanovsky (CSKA Moscow) ;Right forwards # Sergei Semak (CSKA Moscow) # James Obiorah (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Dmitri Kirichenko (CSKA Moscow) ;Left forwards # Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit) # Ruslan Pimenov (Lokomotiv Moscow) # Denis Popov (CSKA Moscow)

Medal squads

References

External links

RSSSF
{{2002–03 in European football (UEFA)

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...