2002 Russian Premier League

2002 was the first season of the Russian Premier League. While the structure of the competition did not change, the top level clubs gained independence from the Professional Football League.

Spartak's six-year dominance in the league was broken by Lokomotiv.

Teams
As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2002 season, with the name of the league changing from the 'Top Division' to the 'Premier League'. After the 2001 season, Fakel Voronezh and Chernomorets Novorossiysk were relegated to the 2002 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Uralan Elista and Shinnik Yaroslavl, the winners and runners up of the 2001 Russian First Division.

Awards
On December 10 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:


 * Goalkeepers
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Sergei Ovchinnikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 2) 🇷🇺 Ruslan Nigmatullin (CSKA Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Valeri Chizhov (Saturn)


 * Sweeper
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Sergei Ignashevich (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 2) 🇦🇲 Sargis Hovsepyan (Zenit)
 * 3) 🇺🇦 Bohdan Shershun (CSKA Moscow)


 * Right backs
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Vadim Evseev (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 2) 🇺🇦 Dmytro Parfenov (Spartak Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Dmitri Sennikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)


 * Stopper
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Gennadiy Nizhegorodov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 2) 🇺🇿 Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Omari Tetradze (Alania)


 * Left backs
 * 1) 🇿🇦 Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 2) 🇸🇳 Ibra Kébé (Spartak Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Denis Yevsikov (CSKA Moscow)


 * Defensive midfielders
 * 1) 🇧🇦 Elvir Rahimić (CSKA Moscow)
 * 2) 🇷🇺 Yevgeni Aldonin (Rotor)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Igor Semshov (Torpedo Moscow)


 * Right wingers
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow)
 * 2) 🇷🇺 Andrei Arshavin (Zenit)
 * 3) 🇷🇸 Ognjen Koroman (Dynamo Moscow)


 * Central midfielders
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Dmitri Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 2) 🇺🇿 Vladimir Maminov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow)


 * Left wingers
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Andrei Karyaka (Krylia Sovetov)
 * 2) 🇷🇺 Andrei Solomatin (CSKA Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Igor Yanovsky (CSKA Moscow)


 * Right forwards
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Sergei Semak (CSKA Moscow)
 * 2) 🇳🇬 James Obiorah (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Dmitri Kirichenko (CSKA Moscow)


 * Left forwards
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit)
 * 2) 🇷🇺 Ruslan Pimenov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Denis Popov (CSKA Moscow)