Translated material
There are no more bets
The RFU banned players, coaches and agents from playing betting
While, due to the abundance of postponed matches, the Russian Championship calendar looks in complete fog, the ethics committee unexpectedly reminded itself of itself. Created a couple of months ago on the initiative of RFU President Sergei Fursenko, the commission threatens to turn into the main punitive body of the Russian Football Union. According to the “RFU Ethics Regulations” adopted and published recently, the committee can impose monetary fines, deprive won awards, disqualify players, cancel match results, exclude clubs from participating in the competition, transfer them to a lower-ranking division, not to mention that he has the right to deduct points and award technical defeats. Previously, none of the structures in the RFU had such a set of powers.The main surprise and severity of the adopted “Ethics Regulations” lies in Article 9. It states that players, coaches, club employees, players’ agents and other participants in the football community are prohibited from placing bets in bookmakers and sweepstakes: “Football entities are obliged to refrain from direct or indirect participation in lotteries, as well as in the activities of bookmakers and sweepstakes related to football matches organized by FIFA, UEFA and the RFU.”
Similar restrictions apply in Germany and England. For example, the German Football Association has prohibited national team players from betting on the matches in which they participate, and in England, people who are involved in its organization cannot bet on the outcome of a match. But in Russia, judging by the wording of the Ethics Regulations, the most stringent restrictions come into force: Russian football players will not even be able to place a bet, for example, on the outcome of the World Cup final or the Champions League, in which they do not participate.
For the first time, the document also spells out responsibility for organizing match-fixing. “Football entities are prohibited from colluding among themselves or with any persons in order to influence the outcome of a sporting competition,” says Article 10 of the regulations.
It also states that whether a particular match was of a “fixed nature” will be determined by the ethics committee, which is headed by the former President of the Chechen Republic Alu Alkhanov. Together with him, actor Sergei Shakurov, journalist Yuri Rozanov, former football player Alexander Mostovoy, State King of Arms Georgy Vilinbakhov, rector of the Russian Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation Sergei Gerasimov and veteran of domestic football Viktor Ponedelnik are monitoring the ethical purity of Russian football. All candidates for committee members were selected by Alu Alkhanov, and they were approved for five years by the RFU executive committee.
At the same time, there will be no opportunity to control the activities of the “extraordinary commission” from the public (and the RFU is a public organization). Article 19 of the “RFU Ethics Regulations” directly states: “Members of the RFU Ethics Committee are obliged not to disclose information received by them in the performance of their duties (in particular, the essence of the case, the content of discussions and decisions made).” And in Art. 16 paragraph 4 states that the committee’s decisions can generally be kept secret. “In exceptional cases, the RFU Ethics Committee may decide that certain decisions should not be published,” the regulations say. That is, the committee’s activities will be opaque.
The “Ethics Regulations” generally make the RFU a rather secret organization. In particular, it states: “Officials and club managers are obliged not to disclose confidential information received by them in the performance of their duties. The publication of information and opinions must be carried out without damaging the activities of FIFA, UEFA, the RFU and other football entities.”
The first victim of the ethics committee may be the leader of the Russian championship Zenit. Fans of the St. Petersburg club violated Article 11 of the “Prohibition of Discrimination” regulations, which states: “Football entities must show tolerance towards people regardless of their gender, nationality, religion, political orientation, show respect for the customs and traditions of the peoples of Russia and other countries, take into account cultural and other characteristics of various ethnic, social groups and faiths.” At its Saturday meeting, the ethics committee reviewed episodes of the Zenit - Sibir match, which took place on July 17, 2010 in St. Petersburg, and determined that “during the match, there were repeated offensive chants from fans of FC Zenit towards the goalkeeper football team "Siberia" Wojciech Kowalewski. For the first time, the ethics committee limited itself to a warning. But if there was a repeated violation, he threatened with more severe sanctions, including deducting three points from the St. Petersburg team.
A repeated violation could be recorded on the same day. During the Zenit - Dynamo match, former player of the St. Petersburg team Igor Semshov found himself under severe pressure from the stands of the Petrovsky stadium. Before this season, he returned to Moscow, and in St. Petersburg the national team midfielder was not forgiven for this. If the fans’ behavior is indicated in the inspector’s report or recorded on audio or video recording, then according to the rules of the “Ethics Regulations” this will already be evidence of the guilt of the fans, for whom the club, according to the document, bears full responsibility.
Zenit, however, still lacked points in this match. The guests were the first to open the scoring - in the middle of the first half, one of the most stellar newcomers of the Russian championship, Kevin Kuranyi, scored his debut goal. But not even ten minutes had passed before Danko Lazovic scored the return goal. Despite all the efforts of the hosts, who made their debuts with Sergei Semak, Alexander Bukharov and Bruno Alves, the score remained 1:1 until the final whistle, and Zenit's winning streak of nine matches was interrupted.
At the same time, Rostov has gone without a draw for the 15th championship game in a row. The most uncompromising team in the championship, which only once in 17 rounds was at odds with an opponent, this time beat Saturn - 2:0. The teams finished the match shorthanded - Nakhushev and Blatnyak were sent off in the 61st minute. And the Ramen team missed their real chance to change the course of the match in the 59th minute, when Kirichenko missed a penalty for almost the first time in his career.
Thanks to another victory, Rostov secured fifth place in the standings. And among the provincial teams, only Spartak-Nalchik is higher, which once again showed the imperfection of Siberia's defense - 4:2. True, the guests, who will meet PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League this week, conceded two goals from the 11-meter mark.
Results of the 17th round matches. "Tom" - "Wings of the Soviets" - 1:1 (Dzhioev 54 - Savin 61) , "Zenit" - "Dynamo" - 1:1 (Lazovich 33 - Kuranyi 26) , "Saturn" - "Rostov" - 0:2 (Adamov 1, Lebedenko 73) , "Spartak-Nalchik" - "Siberia" - 4:2 (Dyadyun 23, Leandro 39 from pen., 83 from pen., Gogua 90 - Shevchenko 14, Molosh 68) .