Doping in Russian football

Will Kurban Berdyev work in the Russian national team? Does he have to solve doping questions to Russian football players? Will the NHL bosses will let their hockey players on the Olympic Games? This topic is examined by authors of publications on sports topics in the Russian press.

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The correspondent of the Sport-Express publication Ilya Kazakov reports that a few hours before the Rostov match with Mu, one of the Kazan news resources said that the issue of attracting Kurban Berdyev to work in the Russian national team during the World Cup was supposedly resolved. Rostov coach, who with his team made a significant contribution to the conquest for our country the third ticket to the Champions League-2018/19, was supposed to, in the opinion of the source, to collect and analyze information on the rivals of Russians. That is, in fact, duplicate the functions of Miroslav Romashchenko, the right hand of Cherchesov. Or replace it in that capacity.

The news was not refuted, although they discussed violently. Nobody asked Cherchesova, like Berdyeva, (either both specialists dodged the answer), and the President of the RFU Vitaly Mutko, commenting on Friday different hot topics-from the performance of Rostov in European competitions to the idea to conduct a hockey match at the stadium in St. Petersburg, has not yet given a response to a similar question.

Mutko, no matter how numerous opponents relate to him, during his work in the RFU showed himself not only by a politician of the highest category, but also managed to avoid a sharp protest in direct communication with the coaches of the team of situations in direct communication with the coaches. That Hiddink, that Slutsky, that Cherchesov, not to mention Capello, could, if they wanted to complain about some difficulties in fast communication or some other problems that are not directly related to their professional activity, but to imagine that the Deputy Prime Minister allow himself to climb into coaching affairs and engage in some personnel decisions directly on this profile ... It is simply implausible.

Hiddink insisted, for example, that his main assistant Alexander Borodyuk concentrated on work only with the first team, leaving the youth, and Mutko did not put pressure on the Dutchman, despite the prospects that the team had. Mutko did not insist on the inclusion of those players who did not fall on the list of Slutsky on the EURO-2016. Although, if desired, he could probably do this.

In a word, Mutko did not intervene in coaching affairs before and would not do it now, before the next control matches of the national team and the Confederations Cup. Yes, and imagine that Cherchesov retroactively receive an instruction to strengthen the headquarters by a competitor, who was considered on a par with him for this position, and agrees to do this, frankly, it is difficult. As well as believe that the RFU Institute has a clear personnel plan for the next summer. The preparation schedule exists, it is painted almost Monday, but personnel issues and the national team are too subtle matter to talk ahead of time. Until the same Cup of Confederations.

Therefore, the news is nothing more than an illusion or someone's desire.

A person who wants to see Berdyev in the national team. Journalist. Antagonist Cherchesova. Yes, in general anyone.

Whoever ask from the football world, no one is able to imagine that the two head coaches, who have never crossed in collaboration or at least in one company, would express their intention to work together in such a strange configuration. That Berdyev, that Cherchesov are strong personalities who choose assistants who very clearly understand the hierarchy of relations. And never previously noticed in the desire to share the fullness of power and responsibility with someone else.

The idea to collect all the best specialists in the country is not new. There was already a similar experience in history when Lobanovsky was taken to the 19 USSR team to the 1982 World Cup,
Akhalkatsi and Beskov are powerful, but completely unrealizable personalities. Nothing good came out of that experiment, and the second time to enter the same river is more expensive

There were times in the history of the national team when assistants who quickly left - without much hype, were at the headquarters of the head coach. Alexander Tarkhanov, for example, remained in the team after the EURO-1996, but soon left her, although Boris Ignatiev initially attracted him to work. And Igor Chugaynov, along with Borodyuk, entered the headquarters of George Yartsev and just as partly parted with the national team after a few matches. But the idea voiced on Thursday is definitely utopian. The one that arose when choosing a new coach of the national team of four candidates - when the option arose to appoint Sergei Semak the main one, and Valeria Nepomnya - a look after a young specialist as a consultant.

The idea to collect all the best specialists in the country is not new. There was already a similar experience in history when the USSR national team took Lobanovsky, Akhalkatsi and Besskov-powerful, but completely unrealizable personalities. Nothing good came out of that experiment, and the second time to enter the same river is more expensive. I can imagine what Jose Mourinho would say if he was offered to enter the headquarters of Portugal’s national team as an analytics coach.

The same Slutsky, by the way, whose stay in London causes a lot of conversations, because few understand the fully what the former coach of the national team is busy in the English capital, Chelsea has no attitude to the current headquarters. Neither as an analyst, nor as a scout. Since the head coach will always remain the head coach. Slutsky teaches English, plunges into British football and can wait for a subject sentence in a couple of months. Or not wait - although the first option still looks more real.

By the way, the most amazing thing when Slutsky was in Moscow in February, in one of the cafes near the RFU, a man approached him, which was most directly related to the ethics committee. And he talked about the desire to see the coach at one of the meetings. In response, the coach proposed the option of disqualify it until the end of the season, since it happens in the capital very rarely. But I heard that they could not do so hard with him for a joke. The punishment should be more humane.

It is possible that the idea of the appearance of Berdyev in the Russian national team as an analyst is also saturated with humanism. But it is unlikely to be humane in relation to the national team - if we are talking about this option.

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Dmitry Okunev and Alexander Yakubovich, on the Gazeta.ru website, write that 23 Russian football players who were part of the national team of the country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil were on the list of an independent expert of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Richard McLaren, says Life with reference to sources in the International Football Federation (FIFA).

If you believe the publication, the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada) sent to FIFA, according to the relevant request, information about the doping tests of "several famous players."

Such information was provided by the employee of the agency Kamila Shafeev.

Earlier, the media reported that the WADA commission demanded data on the tests of Alexander Kokorin, Igor Akinfeev, Yuri Zhirkov, Denis Glushakov and Igor Denisov. There is also evidence that McLaren’s report is a former Russian national team captain Roman Shirokov, who has already completed his career. However, the athlete himself, like his agent Arsen Minasov, previously categorically refuted the use of doping.

Shirokov missed the 2014 World Cup due to injury. In addition to the above -mentioned football players, Fabio Kapello’s cage, the tournament included goalkeepers Yuri Lodygin and Sergey Ryzhikov, defenders Vasily Berezutsky, Sergey Ignashevich (both no longer play for the national team for personal reasons), Georgy, Vladimir Granat, Alexei Kozlov, Andrei Eschenko, Dmitry Kombarov, Alexei Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Aleksey Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, Semenov, midfielders Alan Dzagoev, Victor Fayzulin, Oleg Shatov, Alexander Samedov, strikers Alexei Ionov, Maxim Kanunnikov, Alexander Kerzhakov.

In addition to Shirokov, everyone else continues their work in their clubs of the Russian Football Premier League and the National League Football League.

The Honorary President of the Russian Football Union Vyacheslav Koloskov, who was present three years ago in Brazil and is familiar with the sampling scheme of the samples of the then fences, believes that the information about the FIFA request should not be given too serious.

“My attitude to information about the interest of FIFA in the doping tests of our players is extremely calm,” the famous functionary told Gazeta.ru. “Firstly, I was at the World Cup and is very familiar with the mechanism for carrying out such procedures.

After each game, two football players are sent from each team participating in the tournament. Moreover, their samples are not checked in Russian laboratories, but in international WADA accreditation.

In the case of our team, everything went calmly. Football players sent for verification later took part in the second and third rounds of the group stage successively, and then played for the national team in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2016.

After each game, two football players are sent from each team participating in the tournament. Moreover, their samples are not checked in Russian laboratories, but in international WADA accreditation.
In the case of our team, everything went calmly. Football players sent for verification later took part in the second and third rounds of the group stage, and then played for the national team in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2016

You need to understand that this has become, alas, a general trend. In one form or another, this kind of misinformation pops up since 2010. To perceive all this seriously is more expensive. Only if official information appears from FIFA, exciting the dossier to the players and the beginning investigation can we talk about something serious. And in this case, it is obvious-someone once again became bored. "

Recall that the Russian team at the World Cup tied with Korea and Algeria (1: 1) and lost to Belgium (0: 1), not being able to leave a fairly easy group.

Lawyer Oleg Sukhov, in the commentary of Gazeta.Ru, called the next checks in formality, which will not affect the right of Russia to conduct the 2018 World Cup. According to the expert, Russian football is unlikely to threaten something serious, even if the samples of one or two players unexpectedly give a positive result.

“Interest in the samples of Russian football players at the World Cup in Brazil is due to the fact that they are mentioned in McLaren's report on doping in Russian sports,” the lawyer said. “However, neither in the report nor WADA confirming the use of doping athletes.

This check, like other recent WADA checks, is more of a technical nature, and is unlikely to cause a scandalous discovery of doping football players in 2014.

If, nevertheless, the samples are positive, then the issue will be resolved specifically with those players whose analyzes will be suspicious substances. The entire national team is unlikely to be affected, this requires something more serious than a suspicion of doping in samples of almost three years ago.

The leadership of Russian football should not actively intervene in the process, since you should not spoil the relationship with WADA, since so far it is just a formal check that violates draws of interests. ”

In Rusad, Gazeta.Ru refused to provide the organization’s position on this issue. The head of the agency’s press service, who answered the call, categorically denied any facts of communication between Rusad employees with correspondents of the above portal.

“The best thing in this situation is not to relate to this in any way and not to comment on at all,” they explained to Rusada. “I am responsible for the work of the press service and therefore I can say with complete confidence-the person who allegedly could say something on behalf of our organization, cannot certainly be an employee of the Russad.

We are always open to the press if it comes to really important and burning questions for our country. But in this case, the only possible and adequate option is the absence of any comments. ”

We add that recently Rusada has developed serious activity. In particular, the structure took tests for research for doping from employees of the Paralympic team of Russia in skiing and biathlon.

The head coach of the team Irina Gromova, as well as the massage therapist Irina Kornienko, the Service Roman Zherebyatov and Vyacheslav Alekseenkov, were tested by the head coach of the team.

The overseeing body behind the activity of Rusada is the British Anti -Doping Agency (UKAD). On Monday, Rusada gained the new acting general director instead of Anna Anzeliovich, who resigned in early March. The vacant position was taken by Tatyana Chirkina. It is assumed that it will manage the organization before the election of a new chapter on a competitive basis.

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The correspondent of the Lenta.ru website Mikhail Potapov recalls that on the eve of each Winter Olympiad, fans around the world freeze in anticipation: will the NHL bosses will let their hockey players on the games? In the last five times (with Nagan-1998), the issue has always been resolved positively. And what about the 2018 Olympics? So far, IIHF, IOC and NHL are far from mutual understanding.

Last week, the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the League began to work on the calendar of the 2017/18 season and, according to the original project, a break for the Olympic Games is not provided in it. “We are all tired of this topic. The vast majority of NHL leaders believe that their teams will suffer from participation in games. At the moment, we refuse to go, but we can still change their position if something serious happens,” Bettman said.

Speaking about the “serious” League Commissioner, obviously, implies an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is still not there. In the IOC, according to the NHL bosses, "they refuse to pay for a banquet." "MOK made a terrible mistake when he said that he did not want to take the cost of players. Because some club owners were not against a trip to the Olympics. Now, even if the IOC agrees to pay, it does not matter, because the bosses of the clubs reasoned:" Wait a minute, if the IOC does not appreciate the participation of NHL hockey players, then why should we stop our season? "Bettman explains.

MOK made a terrible mistake when he said that he did not want to take over the costs of players. Because some club owners were not against a trip to the Olympics. Now, even if the IOC agrees to pay, it does not matter, because the bosses of the clubs reasoned: "Wait a minute, if the IOC does not appreciate the participation of NHL hockey players in games, then why should we stop our season?"

Indeed, if you look at the situation from a mercantile point of view, the NHL chefs are absolutely right. They want to see the strongest players in the IOC, but they are not ready to pay for them. Why should the owners of clubs, the league or hockey players do this? NHL is a business project, and it will lose in money if it stops for two weeks at the time when they do not play basketball and American football in the United States. In addition, at the Olympics, hockey players often get injuries, which would also be nice to compensate.

The NHL is not hidden in the NHL that the South Korean market is not so attractive for the North American hockey league as Chinese, where games are 2022. “Yes, we see great potential in the Olympics that will take place in China. The problems there arise the same, but they can be considered from a different angle,” Bettman admits.

The fan has diminished optimism, but there are still chances. About 11 months remains before the games, and the last time the NHL confirmed its participation in the 2014 Games only in July 2013-six months before the tournament. A good platform for negotiations can be the upcoming world hockey championship, which will be held in May in Cologne and Paris.

If the International Hockey Federation (IIHF), NHL and IOC still have not reached consent, there is a plan "B". Players can be poisoned by the Olympics on their own. Such intention was previously stated by many Enhaelists, including Alexander Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin. Moreover, the bosses of some clubs go towards hockey players. So, for example, the owner of Washington Ted Leonsis expressed support to those who will get into the games, regardless of the final decision of the NHL.

"I believe that all the players want to go to the Olympics. And we have a league of hockey players. If Alex Ovechkin, Braden Holtby and Nick Besstrem will say that they want to play for their country, how can I refuse them? They can be fined, they can be punished in some other way, but this will not change anything. To support the hockey, what do I want to do it?

Of course, not everyone will do the same, but at least a few hockey stars will perform at the Olympics anyway.

Among those who maintain optimism are Evgeny Malkin. "Думаю, к согласию мы придем. Олимпиада есть Олимпиада. Такой турнир бывает раз в четыре года. У многих хоккеистов Олимпийские игры случаются лишь раз в жизни. А у кого-то вообще этого может не быть. Каждый хочет сыграть в Пхенчхане и упускать такой шанс нельзя. Нужно взаимодействовать. Нужно, чтобы все команды приняли решение о том, что в чемпионате НХЛ должно быть окно. Согласие должны дать все игроки, но для этого необходимо провести круглый стол с владельцами клубов. Олимпиада слишком важна для многих спортсменов", – говорит второй бомбардир НХЛ текущего сезона.

С ним солидарен форвард "Филадельфии" Якуб Ворачек. Чешский хоккеист напомнил и еще об очень важном обстоятельстве: хоккей – это не только про деньги, это и еще про болельщиков.

"Я видел заявление заместителя комиссара НХЛ Билла Дэйли. Почему не хочет видеть нас на Играх? Он же не член профсоюза игроков. Никому он там не нужен. Они хотят видеть хоккеистов. Это Олимпиада, это не дело бизнеса. Поверьте, многие ребята хотят выступить на Играх. А те, кто не попадет в состав сборных, получат время на отдых, смогут перезарядить батарейки. Если у них есть травмы, они их подлечат. Посмотрю на вас, как вы будете останавливать Овечкина и других русских. Попробуйте сказать, что им запрещено ехать на Олимпиаду", – сказал Ворачек.

Остается надеяться, что его слова, как и слова других хоккеистов, будут вовремя услышаны. Все-таки что может быть лучше, чем турнир, где встречаются лучшие из лучших?