Russian billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov lends 300 million rubles (about 5.6 million dollars at today's official exchange rate) to the Russian Football Union (RFU) to cover overdue salaries to the national team's coach, Italian Fabio Capello.

Usmanov, a member of the sponsoring council of the organizing committee of the 2018 World Cup, lent money again to the RFU to settle the debt with the coach, just as he did at the beginning of last February when he made 6 million dollars available to the federation for the same purpose.

"I share the concern of the Russian Sports Minister, Vitali Mutko. The decision of the RFU's executive committee must be based on sports criteria, capable of substantially improving the quality and balance of the game of the national team," said Usmanov, quoted by his press office.

Mutko recently assured that the dismissal of Capello "is being discussed" and that "some decisions have already been made" on the matter. However, Usmanov did not clarify if his loan aims to settle the debt with Capello in order to proceed with his dismissal from the position, which is already considered a fact in the Russian sports media.

Russia's recent defeat against Austria in the qualifying match for the 2016 European Championship, which practically condemns this country's team to third place in Group G, at best, has put the continuity of the Italian coach at stake. Capello has already been criticized for the poor performance of the Russians in the last World Cup in Brazil. He is the highest-paid coach in the world with a salary of 11 million dollars per year.