Russia
At the start 16 teams will be divided into 2 groups of 8. As in last season each team plays 2 games against the teams in the same group and one against the teams of the other group for a total of 22 games.
The difference is that this year’s final ranking will be unique (and not divided into 2 groups). The first 6 teams will qualify directly to the quarter-finals, while those classified from 7th to 10th place will play the second round.
Eighth finals, quarter and semi-finals will be played up to 2 wins out of 3 games (last year’s quarter and semi-finals were 3 of 5). Also the finals for the 3rd place and the one for the 5th place will be played 2 out of 3, while the only series to be played up to 3 wins out of 5 games will be the final for the 1st-2nd place.
At the end of the regular season, the worst Russian team directly gets relegated (the Ukrainians, Lokomotiv KHARKIV, and Belarusians, Shakhtar SOLIGORSK can not get relegated).
The format of Russian Cup has not been changed.
To read more news from this competition click on Russia.
