The 2026–27 Russian Premier League (known as the Alfa-Bank Russian Premier League, also written as Alfa-Bank Russian Premier Liga for sponsorship reasons) is the 35th season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 25th under the current Russian Premier League name. It started on 24 July 2026, the regular season will end on 29 May 2027 and will be followed by the relegation play-offs. The season will have a winter break after 7 December until 26 February 2027.
Teams As in the previous season, 16 teams play in the 2026–27 season. After the 2025–26 season, Pari Nizhny Novgorod and Sochi were relegated to the 2026–27 Russian First League after five and one years in the top tier respectively. They were replaced by Rodina Moscow making their Premier League debut, and Fakel Voronezh, returning after one season in the First League.
Venues Zenit Saint Petersburg Spartak Moscow Rubin Kazan Rostov Gazprom Arena Lukoil Arena Ak Bars Arena Rostov Arena Capacity: 60,177https://premierliga.ru/clubs/zenit/?category=stadium Capacity: 44,897https://premierliga.ru/clubs/spartak/?category=stadium Capacity: 43,284https://premierliga.ru/clubs/rubin/?category=stadium Capacity: 45,415https://premierliga.ru/clubs/rostov/?category=stadium Dynamo Makhachkala Krylia Sovetov Samara /Akron Tolyatti Anzhi Arena Solidarity Samara Arena Capacity: 26,364https://premierliga.ru/clubs/dinamo-moscow/?category=stadium Capacity: 42,389https://premierliga.ru/clubs/krylia-sovetov/?category=stadium Krasnodar Akhmat Grozny Ozon Arena Akhmat Arena Capacity: 33,395https://premierliga.ru/clubs/krasnodar/?category=stadium Capacity: 30,000https://premierliga.ru/clubs/akhmat/?category=stadium CSKA Moscow Lokomotiv Moscow VEB Arena RZD Arena Capacity: 29,071https://premierliga.ru/clubs/pfc-cska/?category=stadium Capacity: 27,084https://premierliga.ru/clubs/lokomotiv/?category=stadium Rodina Fakel Arena Khimki Fakel Stadium Capacity: 14,950https://premierliga.ru/clubs/rodina/?category=stadium Capacity: 10,052https://premierliga.ru/clubs/fakel/?category=stadium Baltika Dynamo Moscow Orenburg Rostec Arena VTB Arena Gazovik Stadium Capacity: 33,399https://premierliga.ru/clubs/baltika/?category=stadium Capacity: 25,716https://premierliga.ru/clubs/dinamo-moscow/?category=stadium Capacity: 10,046https://premierliga.ru/clubs/orenburg/?category=stadium
Personnel and kits Team Location Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)AkhmatGrozny Stanislav Cherchesov Lechi Sadulayev JögelAkhmat FoundationAkronTolyatti Srđan Blagojević Marat Bokoyev ItalsportNoneBaltikaKaliningrad Andrey Talalayev Andrei Mendel JakoRostecCSKAMoscow Dmitry Igdisamov Igor Akinfeev PRIMERAFonbet/Chestny ZnakDynamo MakhachkalaMakhachkala Vadim Yevseyev Mutalip AlibekovDynamo Makhachkala (self-branded)Magnit/BetcityDynamo MoscowMoscow Sandro Schwarz Daniil Fomin BoscoVTB Bank/BetcityFakelVoronezh Oleg Vasilenko Ilnur Alshin KelmeEkonivaKrasnodarKrasnodar Murad Musayev Jhon CórdobaKrasnodar (self-branded)WinlineKrylia SovetovSamara Sergei Bulatov Sergei Pesyakov KelmeFonbetLokomotivMoscow Mikhail Galaktionov Anton Mitryushkin ItalsportRZhDOrenburgOrenburg Ildar Akhmetzyanov Danila Khotulyov PRIMERAEcoGasRodinaMoscow Barsegh Kirakosyan Artyom MeshchaninovRodina (self-branded)NoneRostovRostov-on-Don Dmitri Kirichenko Konstantin Kuchayev JögelAtlantis-PakRubinKazan Franc Artiga Igor VujačićRubin (self-branded)KazanorgsintezSpartakMoscow Juan Carlos Carcedo Roman Zobnin JögelLukoilZenitSaint Petersburg Sergei Semak Douglas Santos JögelGazprom
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Dynamo Moscow Rolan Gusev Contract expired 22 May 2026Pre-season Sandro Schwarz 22 May 2026 Akron Tolyatti Murat Iskakov Caretaking spell over 24 May 2026 Srđan Blagojević 8 June 2026 Rodina Juan Díaz Quinta Mutual consent 21 September 2026 15th Barsegh Kirakosyan 21 September 2026 FC Rostov Jonatan Alba Mutual consent 24 September 2026 12th Dmitri Kirichenko 26 September 2026
Tournament format and regulations The 16 teams play a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 240 matches with each team playing 30.
Promotion and relegation For the purpose of determining First League positions for the following considerations, the teams that do not pass 2027–28 RPL licensing or drop out of 2027–28 season for any other reason, or the teams that finished lower than 6th place in First League standings will not be considered. For example, if the teams that finished 1st, 3rd and 4th in the First League standings fail licensing, the team that finished 2nd will be considered the 1st-placed team, the team that finished 5th will be considered the 2nd-placed team, and the team that finished 6th will be considered the 3rd-placed team. There would be no designated 4th-placed team in this scenario.
The teams that finish 15th and 16th will be relegated to the 2027–28 First League, while the top two in that league will be promoted to the Premier League for the 2027–28 season.
The 13th and 14th Premier League teams will play the 4th and 3rd 2026–27 First League teams respectively in two (home-and-away) playoff games, with penalty shootout in effect if necessary. The winners will secure Premier League spots for the 2027–28 season. If only one First League team is eligible for the play-offs (as in the example scenario above), that team will play the 14th-placed RPL team in playoffs, with the winners securing the Premier League spot, and the 13th RPL team will remain in the league. If none of the First League teams are eligible for the play-offs, they will not be held and 13th and 14th-placed RPL teams will remain in the league. If any of the teams are unable to participate in the season after the play-offs have been concluded, or there are not enough teams that pass licensing to follow the above procedures, the replacement will be chosen by the Russian Football Union in consultation with RPL and FNL.
Exclusion from the league Any team can be excluded from the Premier League during the season for the following reasons: a) using counterfeit documents or providing inaccurate information to the league; b) not arriving to the game on more than one occasion; c) match fixing. If the excluded team had played fewer than 15 games at the time of exclusion, all its results would be annulled and would not count for the standings. If the excluded team had played at least 15 games at the time of exclusion, all their remaining opponents would be awarded a victory without effect on their goal difference, the same would retroactively apply to the results of the second-half-of-the-season games such a team would have already played at the time of their exclusion, the results of the first 15 games of this team would remain in place and count for standings. The teams excluded are placed at the bottom of the table, regardless of the amount of points they gained compared to the non-excluded teams, and automatically relegated. If more than one team is excluded, the relative positions of the excluded teams are determined by the regular criteria (points, head-to-head results and so on).
League table
Results
Season statistics
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Aleksandr SobolevZenit 7 2 Maksim GlushenkovZenit 6 3 Gamid AgalarovDynamo Makhachkala 5 4 Brayan GilBaltika 4 Konstantin TyukavinDynamo Moscow Gilson BenchimolAkron Ivan OblyakovCSKA 812 players 3
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Maksim GlushenkovZenitOrenburg3–0 (A) Artyom MaksimenkoRodinaAkron3–3 (H)
Clean sheets Rank Player Club Clean sheets 1 Denis AdamovZenit 4 Stanislav AgkatsevKrasnodar Aleksandr MaksimenkoSpartak 4 Andrey LunyovDynamo Moscow 3 5 Daniil FrolkinFakel 2 Vitali GudiyevAkron Yevgeni LatyshonokBaltika Bogdan OvsyannikovOrenburg Sergei PesyakovKrylia Sovetov Vladislav ToropCSKA
Awards Monthly awards Month Player of the Month Manager of the Month Goal of the Month Player Club Manager Club Player Club July/August Nikita Krivtsov Krasnodar Murad Musayev Krasnodar Jubal Krasnodar September Ivan Oblyakov CSKA Sandro Schwarz Dynamo Moscow Ravil Netfullin Fakel
References
External links
2026–27 Russian Premier League at Global Sports Archive