At the end of May 2017, it became known that the former general director of FC Zenit Maxim Mitrofanov was appointed to the post of adviser to the chairman of the club’s board . This was written on the official website of Zenit.
Biography
Mitrofanov Maxim Lvovich - a native Petersburger. He was born in Leningrad in June 1982. This year, the Russian functionary celebrated his thirty-fifth anniversary.
In 2002, he became a bachelor of law, graduating from St. Petersburg State University with honors.
In 2004, Maxim Lvovich became a master of law, and later graduated from graduate school in his native St. Petersburg State University in civil law. Mitrofanov combined long and difficult studies at the most prestigious university in St. Petersburg with work. After finishing his undergraduate studies, he worked in the city’s Statutory Court.
From 2004 to 2005, Mitrofanov worked at JSC Lenenergo, heading the legal department. He later became director of legal affairs at a St. Petersburg energy retail company.
Since 2006, the fate of Maxim Mitrofanov has been closely linked to the Zenit football club. He is appointed as director of the club’s management and development. A year later, the board of directors appoints Maxim Lvovich to the post of general director of FC Zenit.
The biography of Maxim Mitrofanov says that he is a purposeful and educated person.
Mitrofanov and Zenit Arena
The media published many interviews with the former Zenit CEO Maxim Mitrofanov regarding the construction of a stadium on Krestovsky Island. The first Zenit home game at the new stadium was held on April 22, 2017 as part of the Premier League, ten years later and forty-eight billion rubles from the start of construction.
Before this event, Mitrofanov has repeatedly stated that Petersburgers were not eager to hold matches at the St Petersburg stadium so early. However, FIFA requirements were such that at least three events had to be held before the Confederations Cup.
The first match was marked by a scandal and three removal from the field of Ural players. It all started with the fact that the roof leaked, which they tried to repair right during the match. The lawn was also not ready to accept players. As some media write, the lawn "died." Even RFU President Mutko spoke out about scandalous refereeing, who stated that he did not see the FIFA level on the referee's field.
Also, during the construction of the stadium, Mitrofanov said that Zenit was worried about servicing the roof that was closing. It is both expensive and rather difficult to execute. The match held at the Zenit Arena with Kazan Rubin again showed that his fears were not in vain. It was raining that day, so the roof of the stadium was closed. But it was leaking, so much so that some fans had to make room and move to a dry place.
Finance
Maxim Mitrofanov also spoke out about the payback of a new stadium. He said that pricing policy will be shaped so that simple categories of tickets become cheaper. Tickets with additional services, on the contrary, should become more expensive, because at the new stadium the fan receives more service functions and privileges.
To make a profit greater than at Petrovsky, the stadium must collect an average of 45 thousand fans. However, in the first three seasons, according to Mitrofanov, negative dynamics is expected. That is, there will be less net profit. Some financiers wrote that the stadium should pay off within 10 years. Mitrofanov called such assumptions "speculation." He is not sure that the five and a half billion that will be used to organize the matches can be returned in 5-10 years.
Maxim Lvovich assured that after the stadium is brought up to regular work, finances will be invested in service functions. According to Mitrofanov, they will do everything to provide fans with maximum convenience and comfort.
New appointment
Mitrofanov served as CEO of the Zenit club for ten years - from January 1, 2007 to May 2017. On the evening of May 27, information appeared on the site of blue-white-blue that Maxim Lvovich took the post of adviser to the chairman of the board of Zenit.
A day earlier, Sergey Fursenko was appointed to the post of general director. Now he is chairman of the football club. The sports director of Zenit on the same day was Konstantin Sarsania, who said that he accepted this proposal with pleasure.
Mitrofanov in the media
Maxim Mitrofanov last year made a high-profile statement that Zenit is the most popular club in Russia. Naturally, such words were very outraged by the fans of other clubs, especially the Moscow “Spartak”.
But the former Zenit CEO noted that his assertion is based on the results of surveys of VTsIOM, Repucom and other major international companies. According to Maxim Lvovich, these data are not a secret, they are in the public domain, anyone can get acquainted with them.
The reform
Mitrofanov has repeatedly advocated for the organization of a closed league system. In particular, he made such a statement after the proposal by the RFPL president Sergei Pryadkin of new reforms. Mitrofanov considered that it is possible to carry out more fundamental reforms than simply reducing the Premier League to fourteen teams. The system of closed leagues, according to the functionary, will allow clubs to engage in the effective development of football and infrastructure units.
Mitrofanov also advocated the introduction of a goal-taking system for auto-detection, not only within the framework of the Confederations Cup, but also at all national matches. He raised this issue at a meeting of the Premier League in 2017.