MOSCOW — Russia’s government has said it will impose tough limits on the number of foreign players being fielded in the country’s top soccer league, hoping the measure can revive its languishing domestic players, as authorities become jittery that Russia’s national team might perform disastrously when Russia hosts the World Cup in 2018.
On Monday, Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s sports minister, promised he would “cut back on foreign players in a very tough way,” after the adoption of a law last week empowering the ministry to regulate the number of foreign players on Russian teams. The law did not set a specific limit, but Russia’s Football Association has recommended clubs be compelled to field at least six Russians in every match, a formula Mutko has said he supports.