How to paint "agreements" in Russian football
The Russian championship, however, like the Soviet one, was destroyed long ago. All sorts of businessmen from the popular game among the people.
Details - from the famous sports journalist, author of books about football Alexei Matveev. Especially for the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info
"AGREEMENTS" RACE EVERYTHING...
We will not shield anyone: the so-called "fixed" matches, to one degree or another, are played by all, without exception, domestic clubs. And, it seems, everything suits everyone: you can easily agree on the “necessary” result with the opponent’s team during the championship and even before it starts ... There are many options. The fans suffer, of course. But businessmen from the game do not care about such "trifles".
You don't have to look for anti-football examples at all, just turn on the TV box. And enjoy the spectacle.
Let's look through the retro seasons. 2009 was marked by the "performance" of the then "Terek" and the Samara "Wings". The meeting that became "historic" caused the widest resonance! It is generally accepted that the peak of "agreements" falls on the second round of the championship. This is only partly true. Because the extremely “strange” game in Grozny took place in the 12th round, and this, of course, was the first half of the draw.
A wonderful backstory of relations between the clubs took place during the last draw, on the Volzhan field. There, the hosts desperately needed tournament points in order to break into the prestigious European Cup at the end of the championship. And success came - in the "stubborn struggle"!
In Grozny, according to the laws of the genre, Samarans pledged (of course, without advertising anywhere) to return the favor for last season. These are the unspoken rules of the domestic game. And try not to return: they can knock with candelabra, as in the old days. For whatever, it will not seem enough.
So, the "glorious" Grozny and Samarans, according to the modest observations of specialists of various levels, spent about a third of the playing time in the area of the central circle, doing an openwork perepasovka. It turned out well. Then the Krylia players, already with the score 2:2, diligently freed up zones for raids into their own penalty area ... The teams portrayed an amazingly stubborn confrontation until the final whistle of the referee, when, finally, Terek "snatched" the same victory.
What are the first signs of "agreement"? The absence of a spectacle, as such, with its passion, accompanying combinations, the desire to show the indispensable attributes of mastery. “Fight” in that match, if it smelled, then rather behind the scenes. When people agreed in advance (since the previous season) about everything among themselves. Behind the scenes of big football, the outcome of fights is often decided.
HELELESS MUTKO
The match "Terek" with "Wings" at the numerous requests of the workers, ventured to show in full (in the recording) the sports channel. But for some reason without the usual commentary. There was no daredevil to call a spade a spade. Or at least limited to sarcastic remarks, remarks that both teams fully deserve.
The then president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Vitaly Mutko, shook his finger. Like, he will talk with Samara, it’s not the first time they are suspected of this, and he said so in public. It was as if only Wings were a participant in that match, representatives of Terek seemed to have nothing to do with it. Apparently, Vitaly Leontievich was afraid to talk to Grozny on a sensitive topic. Chechnya, after all. This figure, the favorite of the current leadership of the country, is still "working for the good of Russia", in a slightly different capacity. From big sports, including football, he was finally excommunicated. After scandals and revelations, not only in football, but also in the field of the Olympic movement. The doping cases went and developed rapidly precisely from the "close-minded" St. Petersburg official, a true Gazpromist, and to this day the Kremlin's favorite.
It is clear that there was no close investigation into that game. Although from UEFA - by the way, not for the first time - a tough order came to the office of the RFU to investigate all the nuances of the sensational duel "Terek" - "Wings of the Soviets". But what about our functionaries, including politicians of the highest flight, some kind of UEFA headed by the "little-known" Michel Platini?! With a mustache. It seemed that UEFA sanctions against Russian clubs and the national team were inevitable. But after a while, Platini's headquarters also fell silent. Probably, they cajoled, somehow bribed Michel himself, his assistants, who are responsible for the cleanliness of the ranks in European football? History is silent.
Attention was focused mainly on the game "Terek" with "Wings". The most "noisy" meeting, from which it obviously blew behind the scenes. And in the “shadow” undeservedly remained very curious fights from the same, 12th, round. We are talking about the matches "Tom" - "Amkar" and Nalchik "Spartak" with "Zenith". The game of "uncompromising" Tomsk and Perm residents was also noted in UEFA, during the match, funny balls flew into the opponents' goal.
It seems that the football players of Nalchik and St. Petersburg played a subtle performance. They would have to earn extra money on the stage. These groups are kind of “brothers”. The beginning of a sincere friend the concrete was laid back in the year of Zenit's championship, and since then the teams have been closely, most importantly, fruitfully communicating.
The game in Nalchik turned out to be "enchanting". The skill of the actors of football troupes is growing. Unprecedented heights reached! Here is a worthy in all respects goalkeeper from St. Petersburg so softly, even before the impact, falls on the lawn, and - the ball, sent by the player of the home team, calmly flies into the corner of the goal. 1:0 – were the hosts.
The plans of St. Petersburg, however, did not include giving nalchanam three points. At the end of the season, that point for a draw was very useful, everything was thought out and calculated to the smallest detail. So, at the end of the “crazy in heat” duel, the ubiquitous defender of Peter Anyukov hammered the ball into the hosts' net from close range. The opponent, standing half a meter away from him, did not even move to prevent him from inflicting a “smashing” blow. 2:2. Fighting draw!
METASTASES OF CORRUPTION
The course, the results of some "strange" matches in the Russian championships, the author of these lines asked one of the former players of popular metropolitan teams to comment. He asked not to give his last name.
- I found the course of the duel between Rubin and Wings of the Soviets to be amusing, - says an anonymous interlocutor. - Samarans showed some activity only in the second half, with already a big result in favor of Kazan. On the sidelines, experts discussed matches involving Zenit in St. Petersburg against the same Rubin and Spartak Nalchik ...
The notorious debts of honor, according to the expert, exist in domestic football from time immemorial, wandering from one season to another. It comes to absurdity, small tragedies. Here a new head coach comes to the team, they tell him from the doorway: they say, they will have to give up the game for the last year. For some professionals, this is unacceptable.
There are many cases when people left without starting to work. A typical example is with Alexander Borodyuk, the national team coach under Hiddink. Alexander was called to work in the club just on the conditions mentioned, - they say, it is necessary to pass the matches. He turned around and left. Well, why not corruption? By the way, in many countries such evil is fought desperately. So that the level of venality of the same officials, referees, players, coaches would become at least lower. Then you can progress in football skills.
“Corruption is on the rise here,” the analyst believes. - The President of the country admitted that we have already come to that dangerous line, when all sorts of scum - bribe-takers, bandits and other scoundrels can swallow the state. And then we risk losing Russia. Therefore, the fight against corruption is one of the priority tasks. In fact, the direct instructions of the head of state are ignored by the football authorities.
- Why are the leadership of the RFU, RPL in no hurry to restore order in the football house?
- I suspect that some of the managers along with the players, coaches, all sorts of near-football "bugs" are also very dirty! To start the fight against negativity, you need to be honest, clean yourself. And so, any middle-class mafia, laughing, will notice: “Turn around, guys, look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see there?” And it's time to plant not small fry, although they can't even deal with them. They shut up the mouth of the coach from Vyshny Volochok Kosogov, who spoke honestly about “fixed” matches. None of the football authorities moved, did not try to figure it out. This is funny and sad! There is a chronic impotence of officials.
JUDGES UNDER THE HOOD
Let's plunge deeper into the stinking world of "agreements". The scheme for holding such matches was tested by businessmen decades ago, since the time of the Soviet championship. For example, on the eve of a particular match, team representatives agree among themselves on a fixed result that would satisfy both sides. At the same time, it is not necessary that all the players, coaches, and club leaders are drawn into the orbit of behind-the-scenes negotiations. Sometimes two or three people on each side are enough to clarify the price of the issue.
And now, for a certain bribe, these unfortunate masters, in front of thousands of fans, arrange a clownery, imitating a fair fight on the field. Almost always achieve the "desired" result. And there are dozens, if not hundreds, of combinations for surrendering games. For example, a defender whose services have been paid for even before the start of the match, as if by chance falls in his own penalty area, freeing the corridor for the opponent to pass. Or out of the blue breaks the rules - get the coveted penalty. Sometimes rivals quietly, peacefully chase a profitable draw: the audience is deceived, but the interests of the "high parties" are observed.
The peak of "agreements" falls on the second round of the championship, when there is a desperate struggle, both for medals and for the right to remain in the Premier League. The leaders of outsider clubs are trying to agree on the “necessary” result for them, as a rule, with solid middle peasants in the standings, who are not threatened with relegation from the strongest league. Almost always find "understanding". Unless, of course, they have funds specific for urgent needs. The amount of bribery in a Premier League match ranges from 20 to 700 thousand USD, in other cases more - depending on the prestige and importance of the football match.
Of course, not only outsiders negotiate with the middle peasants and, but also leaders with designated categories of teams. Points in the fight for medals are also necessary. They are not always obtained in a fair game. Strength is not enough, skill. So the favorites hope for "undercover" numbers, which most often succeed with brilliance. For no one - neither the leaders of football, nor law enforcement officers have yet begun to track the movements of near-sport businessmen.
In our difficult economic time, there is another form of relationship. Often, teams agree on the so-called "altruistic" basis: "you - to me, I - to you." That is, in the current season, one, let's say, "sinking" club receives points, in the next it returns the favor. Everything is "gentlemanly". Try not to return! Face can be lost - literally and figuratively. No one will ever negotiate with you.
Naturally, people who are not the most deprived in such games are football referees, who often receive space “left” money for all kinds of fraud (up to 700 thousand USD per game, or even more, we are talking about the Premier League, in other divisions the amount somewhat more modest). Here we are not so much talking about "agreements", but about the banal bribery of a specific referee, "making the result" to order. Such craftsmen and a penalty kick will be delivered in time, which was not there, and they will issue a removal from the field of the allegedly penalized player, and they will whistle almost in one direction. They know the business. Not a single ruble will be mistaken.
Judges, however, are also people, they have a hard time. It is very difficult to resist hard pressure, blackmail, threats, attempts to bribe. You can't hide anywhere from the representatives of the "shadow" structures that take care of the clubs. They will find it anyway - at home, in a hotel, at a friend's dacha. They promise mind-boggling bribes for the “necessary” result of the match for their team. They bring cash to the judge directly to the house, or transfer it by bank transfer. Would you like to remain honest, incorruptible? For God's sake, you only risk being beaten somewhere on the station platform at the end of the match. Or, even worse, they will begin to "influence" family members. However, this cannot serve as an excuse for sometimes frankly dirty arbitration...
Alexey Matveev
To be continued
Source: www.rucriminal.info
