Translated material
Finale with blood
Famous football specialist Yuri Shishlov was killed in Moscow
In Moscow on Wednesday evening, 65-year-old coach-selector of the Vladivostok team “Luch-Energia” Yuri Shishlov, well known in Russian football circles for his successful work with many provincial clubs, was shot dead. The investigation believes that the murder was of a contract nature and may be related to his sports activities. In recent years, however, Mr. Shishlov has had health problems and little has been heard about him. Only recently did he attract attention by appearing as a witness in the trial of a scandalous case of embezzlement at the Shinnik football club, where he once worked.The assassination attempt on Mr. Shishlov occurred on Wednesday at about 9:00 p.m. in the courtyard of his house on Sergei Makeev Street. As he approached the entrance, an unknown person ran up from behind and shot the coach once in the head with a pistol with a silencer. When the ambulance arrived, Mr. Shishlov was still alive, but died several hours later in the hospital.
According to the investigation, the killer used an IZH gas pistol, converted to fire live ammunition. While running away, he threw the weapon into a trash bin nearby. Despite the fact that Moscow was shrouded in thick smog on Wednesday, there were several witnesses who saw a short, thin man who looked to be 20-25 years old running away from the crime scene.
Investigators have no doubt that the crime was ordered. “All versions are being considered equally, including his professional activities or possible hostile personal relationships,” the Moscow SKP said. At the same time, according to unofficial information, it is possible that Mr. Shishlov could know the killer. Residents of the house where Mr. Shishlov lived had allegedly seen a young man similar in description to the criminal before, and the other day he was allegedly in the nearby “Sheikh’s Treasures” restaurant with his coach. The restaurant itself confirmed yesterday that the coach often visited them, but they did not remember with whom exactly he came last time.
Shishlov was well known in football circles as a specialist who was able to solve the task assigned to it with any team. Some considered him a master of behind-the-scenes games. Mr. Shishlov managed to work with a dozen teams throughout Russia, holding positions in them from coach to club president, but everywhere, in essence, he did the same thing - using his extensive connections, he helped teams achieve promotion in class.
Mr. Shishlov began his career as a football player, having managed to play in only a few clubs in the first and second leagues of the USSR championship. In the late 80s, he switched to coaching, starting at Tekstilshchik in Kamyshin. Together with coach Sergei Pavlov, he raised the club from amateur level to leading positions in the Russian championship and participation in the UEFA Cup in the mid-90s. In 1996, Mr. Shishlov helped Lipetsk Metallurg return to the first league, then there was successful work in Ramenskoye Saturn, Elista Uralan, Tolyatti Lada and Orel. In 2005, Mr. Shishlov helped Luch-Energia reach the Premier League, and in 2007 he solved the same problem with Yaroslavl Shinnik. Then he took the post of sports director at Alania Vladikavkaz, after which he resumed cooperation with Luch-Energia, but due to illness he actually retired. Mr. Shishlov rarely appeared in Vladivostok, mainly spending time in Moscow watching players suitable for the club among the second division teams.
“We are extremely shocked by what happened,” said Anatoly Beznyak, executive director of the Far Eastern club, yesterday. - Yuri Nikolaevich collaborated with our club for several years, helping in recruiting the team. We really want law enforcement agencies to find and punish those responsible as quickly as possible.”
The last time Mr. Shishlov appeared in public was under scandalous circumstances. He acted as a witness at the trial of the former general director of Yaroslavl “Shinnik” Vladimir Shepel, which recently ended in the Kirovsky court of Yaroslavl. In addition to him, famous football players and coaches were summoned to testify in court, as well as the ex-governor of the Yaroslavl region Anatoly Lisitsyn, but the Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko, despite the subpoena, never appeared in court.
Mr. Shepel worked at Shinnik from July 2006 to January 2008, and soon after his dismissal he was arrested on charges of embezzlement of budget funds. According to investigators, Shinnik used double-entry bookkeeping and paid out salaries in envelopes. Significant violations were also identified in player transfer transactions. In October 2009, the court found Mr. Shepel guilty of embezzling 56 million rubles. and a number of other crimes, sentenced to seven years in prison. But the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and sent the case for a new trial. Due to changed legislation, the prosecution dropped a number of charges, and as a result, Mr. Shepel was sentenced to five and a half years.
Mr Shishlov appeared in court in June last year and was considered one of the key witnesses. According to the defendant’s lawyers, part of the money allegedly stolen by the club’s general director actually went towards Mr. Shishlov’s treatment. The latter then confirmed that in 2007 he received 579 thousand dollars from the club, of which 159 thousand went for oncological throat surgery, another 300 thousand were paid as bonuses, and 120 thousand were salary. According to the witness, Mr. Shepel personally gave him money for the operation on the basis of an application for financial assistance, and he signed for all payments in cash receipts. Commenting on this case in the media, Mr. Shishlov said that it was far-fetched and if violations did occur, they were on a much smaller scale. According to him, Mr. Shepel suffered because of his inexperience.
Mr. Shishlov never sought publicity and in rare interviews always answered questions about his successful football career evasively, explaining the large number of rumors around his person by the problems he had to solve, as well as by possible envious people. At the same time, he did not deny that in Russian football not all issues are resolved within the framework of the law, and some teams and football players, as in the 90s, still have connections with crime. According to the coach, many years of good relationships with players who believed in his integrity and were ready to work with him even for less money than they were promised at other clubs helped him achieve results.