"The decision violates the balance of interests": why the RFU did not allow Zenit to declare Kokorin

Alexander Kokorin will not be able to play for Zenit until January 2020. This decision was made by the RFU players status committee, which refused to register a striker on special conditions for a club from St. Petersburg.

Earlier it was reported that due to the fact that Alexander Kokorin received the status of a free agent during the summer transfer window, the deadlines for submitting his documents for the season application are automatically prolonged - up to 30 days after the official closing of the application period.

Thus, the country's champions needed to bring a new signed contract to the Committee on the Status of RFU Players in the first 14 days of this period, respectively, until September 16 inclusive. "Zenith" in the framework laid down by law. A new agreement with Kokorin was signed on September 15th.

Despite this, the RFU decided to refuse registration of the striker, citing the fact that at the time of submitting documents Kokorin could not work in the club, since he was serving the last day of his sentence.

The explanation of the committee’s decision states that all aspects were documented, but physically Zenit was still unable to fulfill all its obligations.

“The case reviewed was unique and complex. Due to known circumstances, he did not have the actual and legal opportunity to start working in the club until the deadline for submitting the appropriate set of documents to the committee (September 16, 2019). The decision was made to prevent clubs and players from abusing their rights to the detriment of the equality of all participants in the competition, ”the official statement on the RFU website says.

“In the interests of football he had to be declared”

The decision to extend the separation of Kokorin with great football was perplexed by lawyers and football functionaries. In an interview with RT, well-known sports law expert Mikhail Prokopets noted that having studied all the materials of the case, he did not see good reason for rejecting the request from the country's champions.

“According to information from open sources, I don’t understand the logic of decision-making by this committee. Documents were filed on time. At the time of their submission, on the 16th, none of the players who were declared for their clubs had the opportunity to play. Precisely because it is not declared! Neither Kokorin nor any other. And it doesn’t matter whether this person is in prison or at large. Thus, such a decision, in my opinion, upsets the balance of interests. I repeat, without being announced until today, he could not play under any circumstances, ”Prokopets said.

At the same time, according to the lawyer, Alexander Kokorin has every chance to change the decision made by the RFU.

“You can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. Ask for interim measures. I think within two weeks this issue would be resolved. Neither FIFA nor UEFA can influence the change of position, ”the lawyer explained.

The opinion of the colleague was supported by another specialist in sports law. Lawyer Yuri Zaitsev drew attention to the fact that the committee initially accepted the player’s application, thereby confirming its legality.

“If they had filed documents in violation of the deadline, they would have been left without consideration. In my opinion, the interpretation of the reason for the refusal is very controversial and can be challenged. The fact that Kokorin at the time of the 16th was not in the club’s disposition has nothing to do with the matter and is an excessive formalism. In place of Zenit, I would have received the full text of the RFU’s decision and would have appealed it to the Lausanne court, ”the Championship quotes Zaitseva.

The opinion of lawyers was supported by the honorary president of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov. The official said that he was disappointed with the work of his colleagues, and admitted that he was waiting for Kokorin to return to the field.

“From the point of view of the interests of football, it would be more appropriate to allow him to play. The situation is not simple. Yes, he was released the day after the deadline for registering players, but the court decision was known much earlier. Of course, I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that it was necessary to declare it in the interests of football, ”said the ex-president of the RFU in an interview with RT.

Support Kokorin also expressed the union of football players. Director General Alexander Zotov said that if the Kokorin case comes to CAS, the organization will ask for an extra-application player’s admission to the competition.

“There is a practice of FIFA when in such situations the players are given the opportunity to play for the club so as not to lose their qualifications and keep fit. There must be ongoing practice. Based on this, we will ask the RFU to give him the opportunity to play during the trial, ”Zotov quotes“ Championship ”.

“It's not just the timing”

In the club itself, they similarly reacted to similar news. First, the head coach of the blue-white-blue Sergey Semak attacked the committee members with an angry tirade.

“It is difficult to restrain emotions and once again I want to applaud the authorities, this time the football, for the decision to“ refuse registration ”to Alexander Kokorin to do his work. Not only did he spend a year for the misconduct committed by 99% of the male population, but now they decided to leave him without football for another five months. Everything is fair, the law exists for people. It turns out that Sasha is dangerous not only for society, but also for football. On the website of the RFU, you can familiarize yourself with the composition of the committee on the status of players who made this decision, ”Semak wrote on Instagram.

However, after half an hour, the specialist deleted the original text of the publication and apologized to the subscribers.

View this Instagram post

I apologize for the deleted post, the information requires a more thorough study and verification. At the moment, Sasha has remained out of registration for the season, trying to understand for what reason.

Posted by Sergey Semak (@sergey_bogdanovich_semak) Sep 20, 2019 at 6:58 am PDT

“I apologize for the deleted post, the information requires a more thorough study and verification. At the moment, Sasha has remained out of registration for the season, trying to understand for what reason, ”Semak corrected his comment.

A restrained assessment of what happened was given by the president of blue-white-blue Alexander Medvedev. The functionary did not tell whether the club would appeal, but emphasized that the RFU’s verdict did not affect the current status of the player. Kokorin is a Zenit player and will take an active part in the life of the team.

“What is there to comment on. Such a law. As I understand it, we were refused on procedural issues and parameters. It’s not just the timing. Nothing tragic happened. Imagine that parole would be later. The most important thing is that Alexander enters the game form. With a team, he can train. There are no bans, ”R-Sport quotes Medvedev as saying.

According to the Honorary President of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov, such a consistent position of the club’s leadership is due to the fact that Zenit has a low estimate of the forward’s chances to play this calendar year, therefore, permission to participate in the matches for the 28-year-old striker will not be needed.

“It is clear that Kokorin will need at least 4 months to get in shape in order to start playing. In this case, why fence the garden and ask to change the rules for the sake of a player who is not ready yet? Let him calmly train, no one will forbid him, ”the functionary explained in an interview with RT.

As for the player himself, Alexander Kokorin has been silent since his release from prison. It is also known that the striker has already arrived at the location of the team and successfully underwent an in-depth medical examination, on which no injuries were revealed.