In society

An unprecedented precedent

June 8, 2011 Anton Oresh

What happened in the football “locomotive” seems to have no analogues in our sports history. At least at such a level. The head coach Yuri Krasn Ozhan was fired. When the club lags from the leader in one point. Although the game of the team for once pleases the eye. The fans of the club, who worshiped Yuri Semin for a quarter century, only a few months later and a dozen games received Krasnozhan.

And the reason for his dismissal is that the President of the club Olga Smorodskaya suspected Krasnozhan that in the match against the Makhachkala “Anji”, Krasnozhan, with his replacements and other guiding actions, deliberately led the club to defeat. And brought - account 1: 2. Suspicions were expressed, Krasnozhan rejected them, went on a lie detector (which in itself is unheard of), the board of directors met five hours and decided to resign.

What does this really mean? That the Board of Directors considers the coach guilty of passing the match. With aggravating circumstances. If the player passes the match, he is an ordinary traitor (conditionally, of course). If the coach passes, he is a general who brought his army to the trap. We cannot now evaluate the arguments of the parties, since the details of the public are simply not yet known. But the matter should not be limited to the resignation of Krasnozhan. It will be ridiculous. A person cannot hand over the game in the airless space. He does this in someone’s interests, besides his personal ones. Since the match from Anji was passed, it is logical to look for interest from the Makhachkala club. And if you begin to look for this interest, you can actually reach the first case of an investigation of contractual matches in general, not counting the almost epic history of the mid-90s with the Iriston club from the second league.

But will there be an investigation and who should conduct it? The RFU should conduct - as an organization that is theoretically interested in the purity of football. By common understanding, it is impossible to ignore the story in Lokomotiv. Otherwise, Lokomotiv and its board of directors are paranoid. The President of Smorodskaya has a reputation as an unusual, extravagant woman - in the end, she is the only woman who leads a team of this level in our sport. And in sports, like in a navy or in a different purely male sphere, this is always a certain reason for a contemptuous-lubricious attitude. But only on her quirks you will not sleep. Then the eccentrics will have to put up the head of Russian Railways Yakunin and large functionaries from Transtelecom, the First Cargo Company and the like serious organizations.

That is, it is impossible to just wave your hand into this story. So something needs to be investigated in relation to Anji. And “Anji” is Suleiman Kerimov. This is his team, his loud project with tens of millions of euros, with the purchase of the world champion and just the legends of Roberto Carlos and a lot more in addition.

By the way, it was in the transition of clubs to private ownership that many problems were seen. So that they do not sit on the neck of the budget, so that they led an economically justified policy - without space salaries and cosmic theft. It was assumed that contractual matches to private owners would not be beneficial - as a blow to both reputation and affected. However, since the beginning of the Anji season, on the one hand, already among the leaders of the championship, and on the other hand, almost once, Makhachkalas cause vague guesses and obscure suspicions. More precisely, today there are four such matches. The club with an increasing anger refutes everything, but the critical mass accumulates. And the case of Krasnozhan is the limit that we should answer the question: does Makhachkala play in football or some other games to please its billionaric owner? And if there was something there, then Anji must be punished.

And then we would receive a precedent. After all, now they are not dared to repressive measures against crooks, including, because “they have never done anything like it” and why, they say, we must start with those, and not with these? In addition, Makhachkala is an alarming region. This will give a reason for nationalist attacks. And the fans already called for the boycott of the Caucasian teams under the pretext that the Caucasus does not live according to the laws, but according to concepts and sucks money from the rest of Russia. So if, under all these circumstances, Anji should have been punished, then making a goat of the remission of someone else would be much easier.

I am not to the fact that “Anji” is definitely guilty. I am to the fact that the investigation should be carried out in any case. And if the Dagestan team is pure, then the Krasnozhan should be restored, his good name is cleared of filth, Smorodskaya should be fired instead of him, and the members of the board of directors should become very, very ashamed.

In photogrooafia: President of the Lokomotiv football club (Moscow)
Olga Smorodskaya and head coach of the team Yuri Krasnozhan

Photo Gafia from RIA Novosti website