Russian national team could compete in Russian Premier League ahead of 2018 World Cup

Well this is one way to ensure your next World Cup goes better.

Speaking in an interview with Russian news agency Itar-Tass, via the Guardian, Anatoliy Vorobyev, the Russian Football Union's general secretary, let it be known that the country's national team could compete in the Russian Premier League in order to gear up for the 2018 World Cup.

And it gets weirder.

While club contracts would obviously present something of a problem, Vorboyev says that the Russian FA is considering buying out the contracts of all the players who would participate at the tournament.

"It is clear that we can only compete on the highest world level through teamwork," Vorboyev said. "In this situation, it is necessary to look for possible competitive advantage. One of them, perhaps, the most important thing would be to create a core team - 'Russia 2018.'

"The team would take part in the Russian domestic championship in the season before the World Cup, that is 2017-18. The team would be formed from "leased" players who play regularly for Russia and represent the leading clubs. There would be two transfer windows.

"The club could take back a player sent to 'Russia 2018' for the winter off-season. It would also be possible to arrange for the club to get its player back for the spring campaign of the Champions League."

Russia were eliminated in the group stage of this summer's World Cup after picking up only two points in their three fixtures, leading to serious concerns over the state of the team's future.