League of criminals. Russian football and hockey become a shelter for legisters

Russian football and hockey clubs are increasingly concluding contracts with players convicted or under investigation in other countries. The teams in this way are strengthened by those who, if there were no “special” circumstances, would hardly go to Russia. And players enjoy the lack of an institution of reputation-and receive worthy salaries in the Russian Premier League and the Continental Hockey League, while performances in Europe or North America are risky or inaccessible to them.

Content

• “So say that he put twenty girls.” Chilean who brutally beaten the girl

• "They did not consider the moral and ethical side at all." The Netherlander, guilty of the death of a child in an accident

• "He considers himself inviolable." The Netherlander selling cocaine

• "A player of this level came with God's help." American who attacked the police

• Hunting for criminals

• What sports functionaries say

En

“So say that he put twenty girls.” Chilean who brutally beaten the girl

In January 2024, the Orenburg football club signed the 19-year-old striker of Chilean Kolo-Colo Hordi Thompson. The rental of a young South American would not stand out among other transfers of the outsider of the Russian championship, if not for one detail: in the homeland of a football player they were accused of trying to kill.

Jordi Thompson

In November 2023, his ex -girlfriend Camila Sepulveda told the police at Tompson: in a state of intoxication, the football player brutally beat her on the basis of jealousy and tried to strangle her. This incident was a relapse - last spring, Camila twice accused the player of violence. In particular, in one of the released videos, he beat her in a nightclub.

Then Kolo-Colo, the most recognizable Chilean club, condemned his football player and for several weeks removed him from training in the first team, and the court gave Topson the order not to approach the victim. However, in August, the couple saw again together, and in October the football player published Storis with the affected girl and the signature: "Life always gives a second chance, I love you."

Further events developed rapidly. On November 6, the promising striker was arrested for 45 days, a few days later the preventive measure was changed to house arrest. On December 19, the player's side achieved a half -year postponement of punishment with the opportunity to leave the country on bail of 100 million pesos (approximately 105 thousand euros), and on January 3, Orenburg announced the signing of documents on its transfer to rent.

Thompson did not have money for bail. The lawyer of the football player Jose Mendos then stated that someone else would have to introduce funds and that he was not quite satisfied with the decision, because he did not meet such amounts over the years of his practice. But the way out was found: to pay a deposit and get permission to leave, they laid an agent’s apartment.

To pay the deposit for Thompson and get a permission for him to leave, they laid an agent's apartment

“I think that when making any decisions, the well -being and safety of a woman, and not a football career,” the Chilean Minister for Women’s Affairs and the gender equality of Antonia Orlyan reacted to this. - In such cases, there is a great risk of relapse. Of course, now that he will be in half the world, the risk has decreased. But violence against women is a third most common crime at the national level, and this greatly limits the development of our country. ”

During the January holidays and in the midst of the winter pause of the Russian championship, the criminal history of Jordi Thompson was widely discussed in Russia due to the extremely strange phrase of the Orenburg sports director Dmitry Andreev. The former football player, who became the manager immediately after his career in 2019, was directly asked if the Cilian Close Club was embarrassed. It turned out at all not:

“The dark side of Thompson? And who does not have it? They heard about problems with the girl. You say so that he put twenty girls. We are not worried about the reputation of Orenburg. Well, who doesn’t happen to? We did not look at him. They understood that if there were no problems with his girlfriend, they could not afford such a player. When he had such a situation, we faded, ”Andreev laid out in an interview with Sport24.

If there were no problems with the law, Thompson could at least further develop in Kolo-Colo, or even count on the transition to a stronger European league, said the coach of Gualberto Hara, who worked with him in the youth system of the Chilean Grand. In a conversation with The Insider, a specialist who was part of the Spanish Rasing and Raso Valekano headquarters confirms that the player has such a potential.

“He always stood out with universality and character, was not only technical, but also hardy,” says Hara. - In the game, the temperament of Jordi only helps, now he went to Russia to grow up. Problems with the law were very much damaged by the development of his career, because all this happened when he only received a chance in the main team of Kolo-Colo. It seems that he was not very ready for this mentally. So yes, with this mistake he ruined the start of his career and closed the direct path to the strongest European leagues. ”

Orenburg spends in the elite division of Russian football only the fifth season in its almost 50-year history: for the first time it went to the Russian Premier League (RPL) in the 2016/17 season, since then he flew and returned twice. The relative peak of the results (maximum-7th place in 2019) is associated with anchor financing of the General Sponsor-Gazprom Provycha Orenburg. The Club Board of Trustees includes the deputy general director of the Economics and Finance of the Orenburg division of Gazprom, Evgeny Lobachev, who previously held the same position Elena Bochkareva and Vasily Stolypin, director of the South Ural Industrial Company, which is engaged in the processing of liquefied gas in the region.

Club President Vasily Eremyakin, Deputy General Director of Gazprom Orenburg, admitted in January that he was still worried about the new player: “Therefore, we take him for rent until the end of the season. We will educate. ”

For Orenburg, the whole season struggling for survival in the RPL, Thompson definitely became an increase: he went out in the main composition for all the league matches, scored two goals (one of them at the Russian Cup). When signing the contract, the club said that they would decide on the use of the right to buy off, immediately registered in the lease agreement, at the end of the season.

The Insider sent a request to the Orenburg football club. At the time of publication of the material, the answer was not received.

"They did not consider the moral and ethical side at all." The Netherlander, guilty of the death of a child in an accident

The legionnaire of the Yekaterinburg “Ural” Raya Vlut in April 2023 sentenced in the Netherlands to 2.5 years in prison for being drunk, he provoked an accident in which a four -year -old child died. His car on the road from the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol crashed into a family of a family with two children, one of whom did not survive due to heavy traumatic brain injury.

Paradise is in

The accident happened on November 14, 2021. At first, Vlut first denied the fact that he was driving (his friend was in the car with him), then - which greatly exceeded the speed. The investigation established: before the collision, the car accelerated to 203 km/h, and the level of alcohol in the blood of men was twice as high. It turned out that they were traveling from one party to another.

Before the collision, the car accelerated to 203 km/h, and the level of alcohol in the blood of men was twice as high

At first, Friend of Vlut tried to take the blame on himself and for the sake of this, but in the end both told the truth. The football player later tried to justify himself with the fact that he turned on the cruise control, and his defense focused on the fact that the deceased child was not fastened.

Before the fatal accident, Paradise Vlut, a pupil of one of the most successful clubs in the country of the PSV, played in the highest division for the Kurerales middle peasant and was there as a leader. After the trial, the club’s active fans opposed him: they insisted that it was not even a shame and unacceptable to let him out on the field even during the consideration of the appeal. As a result, “Khererales” took the same position-he removed the far from training, and in January 2022 he said that he would no longer play for the team.

In order not to sit without practice and salaries, the Dutchman found a new job in Kazakhstan: Astana signed him free of charge. They knew the situation very well there, but the topic inside the team was taboo, explains Igor Pavlyuk, who worked as a senior administrator at that moment, explains in a conversation with The Insider:

“Paradise was signed at the very end of the transfer window, the team was recognized about his arrival at the last moment. As I understand it, at the beginning of the lawsuit, he thought on the move forward and the coming to us secured himself, his freedom. Vlut did not go with the team, but still immediately stood out on the field, especially by a creative. Honestly, we immediately understood that he would not stay with us for a long time, its level is much higher than the championship of Kazakhstan. When the proposal of the Urals came, heaven himself said that it would be much more interesting for him to play in Russia. ”

The Yekaterinburg “Ural”, who bought a bright Dutchman for 250 thousand euros in September 2022, did not take into account moral issues at all-at that time the vice-president of the club Igor Efremov recognized. In the YouTube show “This is football, brother”, as a former Ural employee, he recalled :

“When you do not know the situation, the question arises: why does such a player perform in Kazakhstan? We raised the situation, discussed everything. When “Ural” signed Vlut, there was no court decision. Honestly, we did not consider the moral and ethical side at all. ” Answering the question of the presenters, is it normal, Efremov remarked: “Let's so: many people in their lives have always been sober behind the wheel?” - And he summed up: "Now we are discussing this situation longer than we discussed it when we made a decision."

The lawyer of the football player Eric Thomas, commenting on the situation, said the obvious: “It is not so interesting to play football in Kazakhstan and Yekaterinburg when I got used to Europe. But not a single European club again wanted to see it at home. ”

Now, Blut is conducting another lawyer, Alrik de Haas. In response to The Insider's request, he refused to comment on the course of consideration of the appeal. In the blut, according to the starting announcement of signing, there remains a little more than six months under the contract (it operates until the middle of the 2024/25 season). Due to a serious injury, he did not play from May 2023 to March 2024, and in the first nine spring matches he spent only 89 minutes on the field.

“For Paradise Vlut, life happily continues in the metropolis - Yekaterinburg. His name in Russian sounds like “Paradise”, in Russia he leads a comfortable life, ” wrote the observer of the Dutch newspaper AD after the sentencing Vlut in April last year. “This is how the football player who has born and raised in the SCIENDELA, who had arranged an accident with a fatal outcome in the Netherlands and escaped, because not a single club wants to see him here.”

Both the former lawyer of the football player and the former Vice President of Urals Igor Efremov claimed: when the final sentence will be known following the results of the appeal, the Blut will not hide and return to the Netherlands to serve the conclusion. According to them, the player is ready for any prison term.

The Insider sent a request to the Ural football club. At the time of publication of the material, the answer was not received.

"He considers himself inviolable." The Netherlander selling cocaine

The loud criminal story in Russian football is not associated not with strengthening, but with the loss of the player. The leader of the Moscow “Spartak”, the Dutchman Quincy Promes, until recently, was in prison in the UAE due to a request for extradition to his homeland. By coincidence, he was not allowed to return from team training to Russia, and now the court is considering the issue of transferring a football player to the Netherlands, where he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in total for two cases.

Queens Promes

Last summer, Promes were given a year and a half for a knife wound to a cousin during a family quarrel, and in winter they added six years for smuggling cocaine. These cases are not related to each other, the investigation into drug trafficking began back in 2018, and the conflict with his brother occurred in 2020.

Queens Promes came to Spartak in the summer of 2014 and became there not just a star, but a real legend. In 2017, he was the leader of the champion team when Muscovites won gold after a 16-year pause. In February 2021, two and a half years after a profitable sale (for 21 million euros), he returned for a much smaller amount (8.5 million). In May 2023, he became the best scorer of the club in the entire Russian history, ahead of the legend of the 2000s of Yegor Titov, as well as the best in goal among all the legionnaires of the Russian Championship.

There was a third incident with the participation of Promes - in itself a relatively small, but without it the football player, probably, would not be behind bars. Chronology is important: during a winter pause, in the 2023/24 season, Queens flew on vacation to Dubai (he avoided his appearance in the European Union because he was already sentenced in the case of an attack on his brother), there he drove into the bus and disappeared from the scene of the accident. Soon he flew to Moscow, and then returned to the UAE already with Spartak for fees, despite the fact that in the club he did not tell anyone about the accident.

The six -year sentence on the drug dealer was announced on February 14, when Promes was in the Emirates. And two weeks later he was not allowed into the “Spartak” plane, returning to Russia, just because of the local offense: data on the abandonment of the scene of the accident reached the border service.

Soon, the Dutch side was activated, the UAE received a request for extradition, and the football player was detained. At the end of March, the newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the court awaits the court and decisions on extradition in the prison complex on a common basis - with it in a cell designed for six, about 20 other prisoners, mainly foreigners. And on May 17 it became known that the football player was released on bail, he should not leave the UAE.

Between the UAE and the Netherlands there is an agreement on the mutual transfer of criminals. According to the insides of RBC , the first persons of Lukoil, the owner of Spartak, who have extensive connections and business interests in the region, but there are no external signs of such intervention, could influence the situation.

From the Netherlands investigation it is known that in the interests of Promes from Brazil to the port of Antwerp, two batches of cocaine with a total weight of 1362 kg arrived. The cargo was disguised as bags of sea salt. According to the investigation, the Spartak player invested 200 thousand euros in order to earn 6 million euros. Promes acted with accomplices (among them-his uncle), but headed this mini-organization, so for him they requested the greatest time.

In the interests of Promes from Brazil to the port of Antwerp, two batches of cocaine arrived with a total weight of 1362 kg

The player’s guilt was proved with the help of surveillance: the law enforcement agencies listened to his conversations (at the same time found out the circumstances of the attack on his brother), studied correspondence, and installed a bug in the car. The permission for this was issued back in 2018. They managed to hack the code of protected, as Promes thought, the devices through which he coordinated illegal operations.

“Apparently, Promes considers himself inviolable - what is in Russia, in other countries. I would like to know how a successful football player is so mired in crimes, ”the NL Times reported the words of the prosecutor.

Spartak all this time refers to the appeal of the case and does not break the contract with the player. According to RBC, the club has a legal opportunity to terminate the agreement: when signing it in 2021, when it was already known about the investigation of an attack on his brother, Spartak included a clause on the breakdown of the contract without mutual claims if the football player loses the opportunity to play for the team.

Most likely, Promes will no longer play for Spartak, although the contract is valid until June next year. Probably, if not for an accident on a rented car, he could fly to Russia with a team and continued to speak in the RPL. From Russia to the Netherlands, he would probably not extradite him, despite the fact that the country gives criminals on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, this is enshrined in the law and is usually fulfilled, pays attention to the conversation with The Inster Feoktistov and Partners Andrei Morozov:

“For example, Great Britain does not give anyone to Russia at all, because there is a precedent court decision, according to which in Russia the entire system of criminal prosecution is torture. Russia, too, does not betray anyone, Germany, in fact, does not betray anyone from the beginning of the war with Ukraine, but Russia issues Germany. The decision on the issuance is actually made by the General Prosecutor's Office, this is an extraordinary procedure, and therefore issuing can be carried out (or not carried out) for political reasons. ”

In general, all conditions for extradition are extended to foreign athletes who are in Russia on a working visa, but the question of how the country relates to the facts of criminal offenses, open, clarifies Morozov. According to the law, the decision to provide them with a visa and a residence permit is not related to criminal liability in their native (or other) country.

«Разумеется, российское общество как цивилизованная европейская страна должно было бы задать разумный вопрос: почему мы пускаем в Россию преступников, почему в законе нет соответствующих ограничений на въезд? Фактически данные об уголовном преследовании проверяются МВД, но что не дозволено таджику, дозволено латиноамериканскому футболисту — решения принимаются волюнтаристски, „все всё понимают”».

Еще до попадания в дубайскую тюрьму Квинси Промес, вероятно, пытался обезопасить себя с помощью российского гражданства. Год назад стало известно, что «Спартак» помогал ему в этом, но Министерство спорта России отказалось содействовать из-за открытого судебного разбирательства. Если бы голландец смог оформить российское гражданство, на территории страны он был бы в безопасности, потому что своих граждан Россия не выдает.

Если бы Квинси Промес смог оформить гражданство России, на территории страны он был бы в безопасности, потому что своих граждан Россия не выдает

Впрочем, как работает закон в отношении тех, кто совершил преступление до вступления в гражданство, до конца неясно, отмечает Андрей Морозов. Сейчас этот вопрос актуален в связи с распространением российской юрисдикции на жителей Крыма и других оккупированных территорий Украины, и случаи привлечения к ответственности за ранее совершенные преступления таких «новых» граждан есть. Поэтому иностранный спортсмен, который вступил в гражданство России, потенциально может быть привлечен к уголовной ответственности за преступление, которое он совершил за ее пределами, но уже как российский гражданин, уточняет юрист.

В России Промесу, впрочем, тоже грозит уголовное дело — за систематическую неуплату налогов. По информации Mash, он задолжал налоговой 397 тысяч рублей еще до того, как улетел на сборы в ОАЭ.

«Игрок такого уровня пришел с божьей помощью». Американец, напавший на полицейских

Меньший масштаб, но тот же тренд — в российском хоккее. Летом 2023 года петербургский СКА, один из топ-клубов Континентальной хоккейной лиги (КХЛ), который финансируется «Газпромом», подписал контракт с американцем белорусского происхождения Алексом Гальченюком. В юности у него были российский паспорт и приглашение в сборную России, но хоккеист отказался и от вызова, и от документа. Ему пришлось рассматривать предложения из России после разрыва только что подписанного контракта с «Аризона Койотс» в Национальной хоккейной лиге.

В юности Гальченюк отказался и от российского паспорта, и от приглашения в российскую сборную

В середине июля прошлого года Гальченюка арестовали в США за нападение на полицейских. Он с отцом попал в аварию на BMW, машина врезалась в бордюр и повредила дорожный знак с рядом стоящим автомобилем. Приехав на место происшествия, полиция обнаружила хоккеиста лежащим в нескольких метрах от машины в состоянии алкогольного опьянения. При задержании он сопротивлялся, грубил и угрожал полицейским.

На разошедшемся позднее видео с полицейских камер отчетливо слышно, как Гальченюк обращается к офицерам: «Ты же понимаешь, что я тебя порежу просто? Шею порежу тебе… Ты же знаешь наверняка, что у меня есть контакт Абрамовича… И вам всем *** [конец]... Выпусти меня из машины, а то все ваши дети, все ваши жены, все ваши дочери умрут. Один мой звонок — и все вы мертвы». Кроме того, он позволил себе расистские высказывания в адрес одного из полицейских.

Игрок позже публично извинился, но обратного пути в НХЛ для него уже не было. В таких случаях клубы, как правило, просто не предлагают провинившемуся контракт как минимум до прохождения реабилитации. Гальченюку, впрочем, быстро поступили предложения из России, среди которых он выбрал СКА.

Алекс Гальченюк

К августу, когда петербургский клуб объявил о контракте, с хоккеиста сняли пять из шести предъявленных обвинений (в изначальном списке были авария на частной собственности, бегство с места происшествия, хулиганство, неподчинение, сопротивление аресту и угрозы с запугиванием), назначив ему 30 дней тюрьмы.

Главный тренер СКА Роман Ротенберг, по совместительству его вице-президент и зампред совета директоров (а также сын бизнесмена Бориса Ротенберга), был в восторге от того, что Гальченюк выбрал его клуб: «Мы рады, что к нам перешел хоккеист такого уровня. Как говорится, с божьей помощью. Потому что такого игрока получить совсем непросто».

А представляя новичка на пресс-конференции, Ротенберг сам, еще до вопросов об инциденте, подчеркнул : «Алекс полностью подходит под нашу систему. И по человеческим качествам, и как игрок».

Незадолго до этого генеральный директор уфимского «Салавата Юлаева» подтверждал , что и у этой команды был интерес к игроку: «Сложно судить о человеке, ситуации, не зная ее полностью. Там все может быть. Интерпретация тех же полицейских тоже может быть разная».

В СКА на вопросы The Insider о подписании и будущем Гальченюка не ответили. В середине мая стало известно , что хоккеист продолжит карьеру в хабаровском «Амуре».

Охота за преступниками

Уже несколько лет в КХЛ играет американец Рид Буше. В январе 2022 года ему предъявили обвинения в изнасиловании в 2011-м 12-летней девочки; самому хоккеисту тогда было 17 лет. Буше признал вину, благодаря чему получил только год условно. В тот момент он играл за ярославский «Локомотив», и клуб расторг с ним контракт, сославшись на Трудовой кодекс без уточнений. Но перед сезоном 2022/23 Буше подписал омский «Авангард» (где Буше уже выступал за сезон до этого).

Рид Буше

Одна из центральных тем межсезонья 2024 года — судьба пятерых канадцев, которым в минувшем январе предъявили обвинения в сексуальном насилии. Дело на них завели весной 2022 года, после того как в суд Онтарио обратилась девушка, которая рассказала об инциденте, произошедшем тремя годами ранее. По словам потерпевшей, на благотворительном гольф-турнире, посвященном победе молодежной сборной Канады на чемпионате мира, один из игроков команды позвал ее в гостиничный номер, туда же пришли другие и принудили ее к сексу.

Имена подозреваемых долго не были известны, но в январе этого года пятерым игрокам той молодежной сборной было приказано сдаться полиции для предъявления обвинений. Это вратарь Картер Харт (на тот момент «Филадельфия»), нападающие Диллон Дюбе («Калгари») и Алекс Форментон («Амбри-Пиотта», Швейцария), нападающий Майкл Маклауд и защитник Кэл Фут (оба — «Нью-Джерси»). В руководстве НХЛ сразу заявили, что хоккеисты не будут играть в лиге до завершения разбирательства. Начала суда ждут в следующем году.

В марте российский «Матч ТВ» сообщил , что голкипером Картером Хартом интересуется казанский хоккейный клуб «Ак Барс». Как отметил источник телеканала, «все пятеро, скорее всего, продолжат карьеру в России, потому что их не возьмут даже в европейские лиги. „Ак Барс” — самый активный претендент. Казань взяла бы и остальных, но мешает лимит в трех легионеров».

Чтобы выехать из Канады, игрокам нужно получить в суде специальное разрешение. Они могут обращаться с подобными запросами, но североамериканские медиа называют маловероятным сценарий, при котором Канада разрешит человеку, которому предъявлены столь серьезные обвинения, уехать работать в страну, против которой введены жесткие международные санкции.

Кроме того, судя по майским инсайдам , московский «Спартак» интересуется словаком Адамом Ружичкой, с которым не так давно расторгла контракт «Аризона». Хоккеист случайно выложил в Instagram видео с полоской белого порошка и банковской картой, быстро спохватился и удалил его, но представители НХЛ этого не простили.

Что говорят спортивные функционеры

Кейс Квинси Промеса заставил высказываться на тему притока игроков с репутационными проблемами первых лиц российского футбола.

Генеральный директор Российского футбольного союза Максим Митрофанов в ответ на вопрос об имидже РПЛ как лиги уголовников призвал чемпионат России так не называть и добавил: «Это скорее вопрос к работодателю. Тут каждый сам решает, готов он или нет сотрудничать с человеком, который совершил или не совершил какое-либо деяние».

А глава Российской премьер-лиги Александр Алаев после стандартного напоминания о том, что человека нельзя называть преступником до рассмотрения апелляции, сформулировал :

«Если вина человека доказана, он не должен играть в РПЛ. Football players are examples for children, for my son Promes is an idol. Мы следим с юристами за ситуацией и с Промесом, и с Влутом. We cannot prohibit them to play. We will follow how the situation will end. Но люди с проблемами с законом не должны быть частью лиги, это мое мнение».

Юридических инструментов для запрета заключать контракты с такими игроками ни у лиг (РПЛ и КХЛ), ни у спортивных федераций нет. Теоретически возможны только рекомендации и джентльменские договоренности между руководителями клубов.

Пока же мнение Алаева и других первых лиц российского футбола в клубах предпочитают игнорировать.

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