Fiery football

Alexey Kuznetsov - About the match in Podgoritsa

The scandal in Podgoritsa, where on March 27, the qualifying match of the European Football Championship of 2016 Montenegro - Russia was not played on March 27, is very indicative.

The essence of history is as follows. In the first minute of the game from the fan sector, a lit fire was thrown onto the field, which fell into Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev . This moment clearly recorded television. The game was interrupted for about half an hour, Akinfeev was taken out of the field on a stretcher, then he was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a burn in the neck and a concussion. The fact, of course, is outrageous, and you should expect a serious punishment for Montenegro from the European football authorities, for example, awarding the team of this country of technical defeat, as provided for by UEFA regulations.

Meanwhile, it should be noted a number of events around this match.

The fans of the Russian national team before the game tried along with fans from Serbia (and they - on the "side") to conduct a procession from the city center to the stadium, but the law enforcement agencies of Podgoritsa were not allowed to do this. The Chernogorsk police generally blocked Serbian fans who were aggressive. In response, fans of the Chernogorsk team threw firewood buses near the stadium with firecrackers and firecrackers, and as a result, traffic on the roads was blocked. That is, the atmosphere around the ordinary, in general, the match was heated before it began.

It is interesting that the first half was still ongoing, and the local police with the help of tracking cameras has already identified and arrested the person who threw Fire in Akinfeev. In Russia, stuffed with video cameras, searches in such cases are carried out much longer. Another important fact: representatives of the fan movement of the Montenegro team in the sub-tribune room apologized to the officials of the match and representatives of both teams.

It is not clear how, after the incident with Akinfeev, the head coach of the Russian national team Fabio Capello was on the field. The trainer is prohibited from going to the field during the game, and although now few people pay attention to this, this does not cease to be a violation.

The break between the halves lasted much longer than 15 minutes. The UEFA delegate at the match called “on the command” to his leadership, and the decision to continue the game made, according to, President UEFA Michel Platini himself. Even then, the level of risk was understood: the fans were warmed up, chairs were broken in the stands, and the announcer in the stadium announced that the match would be canceled if the incidents would be repeated.

Perhaps Platini was mistaken, allowing the game to continue. The situation was again aggravated after the judge appointed a penalty against the Montenegro national team. Football players and fans violently expressed dissatisfaction, and after the captain of the Russian national team Roman Shirokov did not score this penalty, passions were even more inflated. Players almost arranged fist battle on the field. Fayers and other objects flew from the stands again, the players began to indicate them to the judge, and the fans from the Spartak association "Frandriy" were written on Twitter that they threw a knife from the Russian national team player! The judge sent everyone to the locker room and stopped the match "for good."

Podgorica lessons are important primarily for Russia itself - both in football and other meanings

While UEFA will understand and make a punishment, I will note: what happened is very, no matter how cynically it sounds, helped the Russian national team in the struggle for a ticket to the European Championship. While her main competitors, Austrians and Swedes, rivals win. On Friday, for example, Austria at a party won largely at Liechtenstein 5: 0, Sweden also defeated Moldova 2-0 on a foreign field. The situation in Group G, where Russians and Montenegrins play with these teams, is as follows: Austria has 13 points, Sweden has 9, Russia and Montenegro still have 5 points. Suppose, after the technical defeat of Montenegro, Russia will gain 8, and it will have the chance to "get" into the final part of the European Championship.

But still it is worth remembering that Russia has not won this match on the field! In the game, the Russians did not have a big advantage, they did not score a penalty, and you can only guess how the meeting would end if not for the Montenegrin fans. The game of the Russian team is primarily a question for Capello, but now it is clear that the team has big problems in organizing the game.As, however, it was clear before .

And finally, the main thing. Russia received an amazing gift from Montenegro! The Russians are burning with a noble anger, indicating that they were offended by Montenegrin fans. There is no doubt that there will be plenty of rhetoric on this subject. But the fan problem in recent years in Russia itself is very acute. Here is the ugly behavior of Russian fans at the 2012 European Championship, who staged a brawl on the streets of Warsaw. Here is the semblance of an incident in Podgorica, when at the stadium in Khimki, Fayer hit the goalkeeper of the Moscow Dynamo Anton Shunin - for which, by the way, the rivals of Dynamo, Zenit, was awarded a technical defeat. Here, and the ugly case in Yaroslavl, when during the match "Shinnik" - "Spartak" fans staged a massive fight, burned fireflies, fought with a riot police, pulled out of the nests and threw armchairs, and even hung a flag with a swastika on the rostrum. Here is the "banana technology", and a number of racist fan outputs, including at the CSKA Champions League match - Manchester City. You can, of course, recall more long stories - fan pogroms in the center of Moscow after defeat from Japan during the 2002 World Cup or a promotion of fans on Manezhnaya Square after the death of one of them, Yegor Yakovlev ...

Of course, rightly accusing the Montenegrins, the Russians need to understand that they just helped them "wrap their eyes to pupils in the soul." Will Russia be able to correctly understand what exactly happened in Podgorica? Honestly, I doubt it. The eyes of the Russians are too blurred by the search for an enemy conspiracy of “foreign agents”, they are too diligent, they are looking for the enemy around them, not realizing that they are their main enemy. Montenegro was considered one of the most friendly Russia. But now it is clear how spoiled by the reputation of Russia - spoiled by "Crimean" slogans and actions in the east of Ukraine.

Now many are actively calling for Russia to deprive the right to hold the 2018 World Cup . And not only for "Ukrainian" motives. For example, the Vice President of FIFA JEZHEFRRI WEBB recently stated that Russia is an inappropriate place for the 2018 World Cup due to the "high level of manifestation of racism." The case in Podgoritsa, no matter how the UEFA investigation ends, is a good reason to think about Russia's readiness for large international sports actions. After all, even since the Olympics in Sochi, Russia has changed a lot.

Alexey Kuznetsov - Sports Observer Radio Liberty

Opinions expressed under the heading "Law" may not reflect the point of view of the editorial office