Moscow, Reuter: Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, the Soviet Union’s first genuinely professional Soccer club, beat ZhaIgiris Vilntus 3-1 on Friday to win the country’s League Championship for the second time in four years.
The victory in the penultimate round of the championship gave Dnepr 44 points against 39 for Dynamo Kiev and 38 for torpedo Moscow, Although both the latter have a game in hand, they cannot now catch the leaders.
Dnepr, 1985 League Champions made Soviet Soccer history last season when they renounced official links with the trade union organization which sponsored them and changed to self-financing with players on three year contracts,
Under the traditional Soviet system, all other league sides are afflicted to a central organization such as the trade unions the army or the security services,
The organization handles the team’s finances provides the grounds and training facilities and pays the players, who have amateur or semiprofessional status.
By the end of the 1987 season, Dnepr had made 300,000 robles (490,000 dollars) profit and several other top Soviet clubs said they would adopt a similar system— although none has so far taken the ‘step.
Senior Soviet Soccer Official Vyacheslav Koloskov said in June that from next season, all clubs in the top three soviet divisions would have three years to become financially viable,
Article extracted from this publication >> November 25, 1988
