Zenit St. Petersburg purchases services of Jose Salomon Rondon for $18 million

On January 31st, Zenit St. Petersburg announced it spent $18 million to purchase the services of Jose Salomon Rondon, a 24-year old striker from Venezuela. Rondon has spent the last year on Russian Premier League rival Rubin Kazan where, in 56 appearances, Rondon totaled 25 goals. This season, Rondon has tallied 12 goals in 19 appearances.

Rondon has previously spent time with Malaga where 25 goals in 67 appearances, and has 12 goals in 35 games for his native Venezuela, helping take his country to the semifinals of the 2011 Copa America. 

Rondon's signing improves Zenit's depth and provides some added flexibility as the club prepares for it's next Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on February 25th. Up front, Zenit already has Brazilian striker Hulk and long-time frontman Alexander Kerzhakov.

Hulk's performance since joining Zenit has largely pushed aside Kerzhakov, but if either Kerzhakov or Hulk leave by the end of the season, Rondon's new five-year deal means Rondon will be the likely successor.

Rondon also has the distinction of being the club's first signing of a black player since a group of Zenit fans infamously called for non-white players to be excluded. The outcry was sparked by Zenit's signing of Hulk and Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel for £64m. Hulk and Witsel have since been major assets in Zenit's current bid for a Champions Cup.

Zenit's director of sports Dietmar Beiersdorfer said players would continue to be selected "without any limitation regarding origin, religion or skin color," and Rondon's signing proves that Zenit is standing by its word.

Rondon's departure from Rubin signals that the club has written off this season as a lost year, which means the team will likely rebuild and restock for next year while trying to avoid relegation. Rondon has been by far Rubin's best player, scoring most of the team's goals. With him now at Zenit, Rubin has just Alexander Prudnikov, who has one goal in the last two seasons, and Serdar Azmun.

Rondon joins his former Rubin teammate Alexander Ryazantsev, who was also sold to Zenit after Rubin fired its long-time coach Kurban Berdyev after Rubin fell to 11th place. 

Examples of Fraud in Organizing the Sochi Olympics

It's no secret that with its price-tag of $51 billion, the 2014 Sochi Olympics are the most expensive games ever organized in history. The $51 billion is five the amount spent on the Vancouver Winter Games four years ago, and shatters the ~$45 billion China spent on the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

The original expected price tag? $12 billion, a budget decided back in 2007. The International Olympic Committee has to regret awarding Russia the right to organize the Winter Olympics for everything that has, and is, occurring.

$51 billion is a monetary total that could purchase all 32 NFL teams, which are priced by Forbes at $37.4 billion. $51 billion is more than the nominal GDP of 108 countries (the entire economy of Guatemala is less than Sochi's cost).

It should be no surprise that Russia is notorious for corruption and bribes, but even this is extreme, especially considering that Sochi did not have, nor does it yet possess, the infrastructure to host the Olympics Games.

Buzzfeed's Max Seddon published an article on 16 examples of alleged corruption, including, but not limited to:

1. The Olympics Stadium is 2.5 times more expensive than similar stadiums in Europe.
2. A mafia-linked businessman with ties to Putin's friends built the Shayba hockey arena for $33 million over the market price.
3. Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev's ski instructor was awarded contracts totaling $2.5 billion.
4. The local governor spent $15 million of Olympic funds on a helicopter for himself.

Seddon admits that the examples originate from a report by political opposition leader Alexei Navalny who has a definite anti-Putin history as a anti-corruption fighter. The full investigation can be located here.

Zenit St. Petersburg Unlikely to Advance to Champions Cup Quarterfinals

Zenit St. Petersburg's advancement to the Champions League Group of 16 was anything but graceful after barely surviving the group stage. St. Petersburg became the first team in history to advance with just six points.

Zenit, after losing to Austria Wien 4-1, needed help from Atletico de Madrid to advance. Porto, in third place with five points, could have leapfrogged past Zenit and advanced instead. Atletico defeated Porto 2-0, thereby preserving Zenit's one point lead.

As runner-up of Group G, Zenit will draw its next opponent on Monday. Right now, none of the seven options are appealing.

The possible adversaries? Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. St. Petersburg will be considered the underdog against each team.

Zenit can't play Atletico because both teams advanced from the same group.

The Mirror's Miguel Delaney posted his Champions League power rankings, listing Zenit No. 16. The Bleacher Report's Karl Matchett ranks Zenit one spot higher at No. 15, ahead of Olympiacos. However, Matchett and The Mirror agree Zenit is unlikely to advance.

An inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities has plagued Zenit for the past two months, justifying its rankings. Zenit's inability to finish games jeopardizes its chances of repeating its 2008 magic when it won the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

In the earlier stages of the Champions League, Zenit easily overwhelmed Nordsjaelland and Pacos Ferreira.

Since entering the Group stage, Zenit has managed just one win, 1-0 over Porto. Although Zenit lost to Atletico 3-1 its first game, St. Petersburg fought Atletico to a draw in the rematch, proving it could compete with the best.

Then everything changed, starting with a 2-1 to seventh place Amkar Perm on November 2.

After starting slow in the Russian Premier League, Zenit surged into first place. But in the past five matches, Zenit has gone 1-2-2, letting Lokomotiv Moscow creep into a tie for first place. Spartak Moscow sits in third place with one point behind.

Zenit's slump bled into its upcoming game against Austria, who had yet to win a match in the group stage.

St. Petersburg held a 1-0 lead, controlling the ball most of the first half, but collapsed in the second. Zenit allowed Austria's Philipp Hosiner and Tomas Jun to score one goal each in an eight-minute span, and Austria never looked back.

Even Austria's coach Nena Bjelica was surprised by how flat and uninspired Zenit played.

"We deserved this victory though the scoreline is a bit flattering," Bjelica said. "Zenit didn't play at their best but we did well to punish them."

According to Delaney's rankings, Zenit's best chance of advancing would be to draw PSG. However, Matchett's rankings suggest Chelsea, who won its group with 12 points.

In the end, Zenit faces an uphill battle no matter which team it draws. In fact, every group winner, even Atletico, hopes to play Zenit, believing Zenit will be an easy victory. If Zenit somehow advances, it will mark the largest upset of this year's Champions League.

However, considering its recent string of luck, Zenit will probably draw Manchester United or Real Madrid.