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 Jr., 28, had 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.