The Russian Football Union has apologized to national team trainer Fabio Capello after failing to pay his wages for the third month in a row.
"The Russian Football Union [RFU] acknowledges the presence of a debt in line with its contractual obligations to Capello," organization head Nikolai Tolstoi was cited as saying Monday by sports newspaper Sovyetsky Sport.
"We apologize to him for the delayed wages and will make all possible efforts to repay the debt as soon as possible," Tolstoi added.
Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told TASS news agency on Saturday that the football body — which pocketed $8 million from Russia's appearance at this summer's World Cup in Brazil — owed wages to Capello and 22 other members of staff, promising to look into the matter.
Capello, who led Russia's disastrous campaign at the World Cup, is one of the best paid coaches in the game, picking up a cool $11 million a year, according to Forbes.
But having failed to record a win in Brazil, both Capello and the RFU came in for criticism given the size of the Italian's pay packet.
"I appeal to Fabio Capello: For this shameful defeat [in Brazil] you received 800 million rubles [$23 million]. Return the money, even if only half," A Just Russia lawmaker Oleg Pakholkov was quoted as saying by TASS news agency after Russia's early exit from the tournament.
Under Capello. the Russia team failed to qualify from Group H, having picked up two points from three games and scoring only two goals at the Brazil tournament.
