Riga Football Club , commonly referred to as Riga FC , is a Latvian football club, founded in 2014. The club is based at the Skonto Stadium in Riga . Since 2016 , the club has been playing in the Virslīga .
20-744: Latvian Higher League or Virslīga , known for sponsorship reasons as TonyBet Virslīga since 2024, is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia . Organised by the Latvian Football Federation , the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The first all-national Latvian championship - the Virslīga - which succeeded the Riga Football League and other, parallel regional leagues,
40-572: A license to start offering their services for the Dutch market. TonyBet controversially became a sponsor of the Lithuania men's national basketball team in 2010, controversially because TonyBet provides betting on basketball games and because in Lithuania gambling advertising is banned nationwide. According to TonyBet, in 2013 it became the main sponsor for the team in a four-year deal, and also
60-579: A record of 31–28–27 (including Metalurgs ) in favor of Liepāja prior to the 2019 Virslīga. Since 2016, the Riga Derby (Rīgas derbijs) was started between Riga FC and Rīgas FS as two clubs were promoted at the same time. A 2019 match in Skonto Stadium between the two sides broke a ten-year attendance record. UEFA competitions Ventspils was the Latvian first club who qualified for
80-501: A revamped off-season tournament, Livonia Cup , is being played from January till February, with teams from Latvia's and Estonia's leagues taking part. The League has changed sponsors for several times. From 2006 until 2010 it was known as the LMT Virslīga . No sponsorships were established for the 2011 season. Starting from the 2012 season , the league was reorganised in partnership with an NGO as " Latvijas Futbola virslīga ", adopting
100-494: A wide range of products including live and pre-match sports betting as well as money lines on some of the biggest entertainment and political events like the Eurovision Song Contest , presidential elections , and even the end of the world. TonyBet also offers live casino and slot gaming services provided by the biggest online casino developers Microgaming and NET/ENT. The website also runs Live Games giving
120-429: The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League Commonwealth of Independent States Cup Baltic League TonyBet TonyBet is an international online gaming company providing sports betting , live betting and live gaming services. The TonyBet website offers a live gaming service allowing the players to place bets on lottery , casino , poker and other games live. Established in 2011 TonyBet now operates by
140-558: The Latvian Second League in 2014. After winning the 2015 First League and earning promotion to the Higher League, the club changed its name to Riga FC. However, for most of 2015, the legal name of the team was 'Riga Dinamo Football Club'. A club named Dinamo Riga played in 1940 and 1945–1960. In 2017, Riga FC acquired the Šitiks Football Academy ( Šitika FA ), founded in 1999 by Genādijs Šitiks , and operates as one of its youth academies, Riga FC Academy . In 2018,
160-624: The NGO's name in the 2012 season. From 2013 to 2015, the league was known as the SMScredit.lv Virslīga due to a contract with the online microfinance company SMScredit . In March 2016, it was announced that the Virslīga would be sponsored by SynotTip Sports Bar on a three-year contract. They were succeeded by betting firm Optibet on a two-year contract, beginning with the Optibet Virslīga 2019 season , which lasted until 2024. In 2024 Optibet
180-845: The Nākotnes Līga, for the last spot in the league. The winner of Virslīga qualifies for the UEFA Champions League first qualification round, while runners-up and 3rd place teams qualify for the UEFA Conference League first qualification round. A winter off-season league cup, the Virslīga Winter Cup , was played in January of each year from 2013 to 2017, which was replaced in 2018 by the Virslīga Cup ( Latvian : Virslīgas kausa izcīņa ). However since 2024,
200-547: The UK and Estonian gaming licenses allowing the company to provide its services to the UK and Estonian market. On September 8, 2016, TonyBet business in Lithuania was acquired by Swedish company Betsson , who agreed to pay €6 million for the company. On November 3, 2022, TonyBet acquired an iGaming license in Estonia under the name of TonyBet OÜ and is no longer a part of Betsson Group. The company's online gaming supply features
220-863: The Ukrainian Viktor Skrypnyk was appointed as coach. He managed to lead the club to two Latvian Higher Leagues in 2018 , 2019 and the Latvian Football Cup in 2018 . Fully up to date as of 1 August 2024 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. As of 14 December 2023 As of 13 March 2021 In 2020, it
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#1732790304491240-470: The Virslīga. Each side are playing 36 games during the season, with 18 games being played at home and other 18 - away. At the end of each season, the lowest placed team in the league gets automatically relegated to the Optibet Nākotnes Līga , with Nākotnes Līga winner replacing them, while the second lowest placed team gets to play in a 2 leg relegation playoff ( Pārspēles ) against the runner-up of
260-557: The game for real money. The software offers cash games, Sit and Go and multi-table tournaments played in a number of different game variations including Pineapple, Turbo, 2–7 Pineapple and Progressive Fantasy. In December 2014 TonyBet hosted the first-ever live Open Face Chinese Poker World Championship as part of the Prague Poker Festival. Riga FC The club was officially registered in April 2014. The team
280-477: The group stage of a UEFA club competition, reaching the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage . Skonto reached the UEFA Champions League last qualifying stage for a number of times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but lost to teams like Barcelona in 1997 , Inter Milan in 1998 and Chelsea in 1999. RFS qualified for the 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage, finishing in fourth place with 2 points. Most recently, FK RFS qualified for
300-455: The newly established Latvian Football Federation (LFF) decided to reorganise its competitions within the Virslīga from 1992. The same year Latvia returned to FIFA and became a member of UEFA . Latvian Higher League is being played usually from early March till November. Although the team count in the league has changed multiple times (10 in 2007 and 2020, 9 in 2019 and 2021, and 8 in 2015-2018), since 2022, total of 10 teams are participating in
320-439: The player a chance to bet on poker, casino, and lottery game outcomes. The TonyBet online poker application offers the game of Open Face Chinese poker . In June 2021, TonyBet announced its platform and content deal with Leander. The deal saw TonyBet add a roster of technology and content launched on the platform. This included many online games to add to Tonybets online product portfolio. In November 2022, TonyBet has acquired
340-471: Was established before the 2015 season after a merger of two Riga based teams – FC Caramba and Dinamo Rīga . In the 2015 season, under the name FC Caramba/Dinamo , the team played in the Latvian First League by using the licence received by FC Caramba , an unrelated team founded by future FK RFS co-founder Maksims Krivuņecs , which had won promotion to the 1. līga after winning
360-600: Was organized in 1927. It succeeded the previous Latvian Championship ( Latvian : Latvijas čempionāts futbolā ) that was held from 1922 to 1926 in similar fashion. The Virslīga lasted until the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 . After World War II , between 1945 and 1991 the championship of Soviet Latvia was the main footballing competition in the Latvian SSR . With Latvia regaining full independence in August 1991 ,
380-558: Was replaced by TonyBet . Source: This is a list of clubs, in order of most titles won in championships in independent Latvia (1922–1940 and 1991 to date). Teams in bold are part of 2020 Virslīga. Titles won by club (%) The most well-known rivalry is the Kurzeme derby (Kurzemes derbijs) between Ventspils and Liepāja . The two biggest clubs in Kurzeme have played 86 matches between themselves with
400-617: Was sponsoring some of the leading basketball clubs of Lithuania and Estonia, an Estonian football club, and Lithuanian and Estonian volleyball associations. TonyBet is one of the main sponsors of the Juta Racing team of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB . The company and the team signed a sponsorship deal before Juta Racing's debut season in the circuit in 2015. In December 2013 TonyBet launched its own online Open-face Chinese poker application allowing its clients to play
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