Is Boris Rotenberg Jnr's rise to Dynamo first team a result of nepotism or merit?
Russian, son of the club president, has undergone an unlikely ascent to the top flight line-up that has split opinion on the reasons for his promotion
The unexpected rise of a little-known defender with a very influential father has embroiled one of Russia's top clubs in a high-profile dressing room spat over alleged nepotism.
For four years Boris Rotenberg Junior, 28, has warmed the bench at Premier League Dynamo Moscow after unsuccessful stints at a number of middling clubs.
The unremarkable fringe player would have drawn little attention had it not been for his father - Boris Rotenberg, a billionaire oligarch who is president of the club and a close friend of President Vladimir Putin.
He gives everything he has to achieve the desired result. I can't say anything bad about him
Now the younger Rotenberg has moved centre stage after he surprisingly dislodged Russia's international right back Alexei Kozlov to become a regular starter in the team.
Russia's football experts have been split over the metamorphosis of Rotenberg Jnr from a lifelong benchwarmer into a first-teamer at Dynamo.
Some consider the Rotenberg case to serve as an example of the nepotism rampant in local football and the country at large under Putin.
