"Nightmare, paralyzing episode": ex-captain of the Russian national team Shirokov beat the referee during a football match

Former captain of the Russian national football team Roman Shirokov became a defendant in a scandal. Former Spartak, Zenit and CSKA player beat referee Nikita Danchenkov during the Celebrity Cup amateur tournament match in Moscow. The arbitrator needed medical attention, he was taken to the Sklifosofsky Research Institute.

The incident took place during a meeting between the teams "Match TV", for which Shirokov played, and "Nothing usual." The attack was preceded by a controversial episode, when Shirokov, who was running to the opponent's goal, was knocked down by an opponent in the penalty area. Danchenkov did not see the violation and allowed the teams to continue the game, but soon blew the whistle and went to Shirokov, intending to remove him from the field for foul language. Approaching the player, the referee showed a red card.

Immediately after that, Shirokov hit Danchenkov in the face with his fist. From the blow, the referee fell to the ground, after which the midfielder kicked him. Then the other players pulled him away from the victim. The match was interrupted, and the referee was taken to the hospital.

Danchenkov spent several hours under the supervision of doctors, after which he was released home. The arbitrator said that he was already feeling well, but at the same time he was very worried about the incident.

“The time is 4:00 Moscow time, and I just returned home an hour ago. Alive, healthy - the most important thing. I spent 4-4.5 hours in the hospital, then another 15-20 minutes in the emergency room. They put stitches everywhere, did a bunch of examinations. And most importantly, everything seems to be fine with me. What does not kill you will make you stronger, as they say. Therefore, we continue to go further, we continue to work. I want to thank everyone for the words of support, this is a difficult moment for me and my loved ones, ”Danchenkov wrote on his Instagram.

The details of the scandalous episode were told by the organizer of the Celebrity Cup, blogger German Popkov. He noted that when Danchenkov was leaving the field, Shirokov ran up to him and took him by the jaw with the words "Well, okay." After that, the footballer, according to Popkov, said: “This is for you yesterday's match,” referring to the recent game of “Spartak” and “Sochi” in the Russian Premier League, which ended in a loud referee scandal.

Struck a penalty from the foot Roman Nikolaevich, well done pic.twitter.com/YGzNH8Wum6

Popkov said that immediately after the incident, Shirokov made no attempts to apologize to Danchenkov, although other players of the Match TV team did. The blogger promised to involve the police in the investigation of this incident.

“This is unacceptable, disgusting and horrible. Very strange behavior. A lot of people saw it live, and all this from a million angles. And this is from people with whom we are completely friends. And it happened from scratch. There was an ordinary episode - Roman's argument with the chief arbiter, and then the beating began. The judges immediately left the field. An ambulance will pick up the injured judge. We will deal with the health of the referees. As an organizer, I would like it to come to the police. This is unacceptable, "Popkov told the Championship.

The next day, Shirokov still apologized to Danchenkov. He noted that he had no right to react so violently to the actions of the referee, with which he did not agree.

“Based on the results of yesterday's match and the incident in it, I would like to express my sincere apologies to Nikita for such an inappropriate act committed by me. I am well aware that not assigning an obvious penalty and then showing a red card cannot be a reason to swing your arms. I hope Nikita will be back in service as soon as possible. I also want to apologize to the tournament organizers, my Match TV teammates and the audience, ”the footballer wrote on his Instagram.

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Publication from Roman Shirokov (@shirokovrn) Aug 10, 2020 11:05 PDT

In previous matches of the tournament, Shirokov was already distinguished from the negative side. In the game with the Roma team, he grossly violated the rules against an opponent, flying a straight leg into his knee. For this Shirokov was sent off and disqualified for the next match.

Popkov also said that in the current history, another former player of the national team Andrei Tikhonov also behaved ugly. After the match was stopped, a cameraman entered the field to shoot the beaten Danchenkov from a close angle. The former Spartak player pushed him away using obscene language. Soon Tikhonov apologized for his act.

Now Shirokov may face criminal liability for the attack on Danchenkov. This opinion was shared by lawyer Igor Bushmanov. A footballer can receive up to two years in prison for his act if the parties do not agree.

“The video shows the fight only out of the corner of the eye. I suppose there may be Art. 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Beatings"), if beatings or other injuries were inflicted, which entailed physical pain, but did not entail minor harm to health. It also implies a hooligan, groundless motive. If this is established, then there will be grounds for initiating a criminal case on the grounds of Art. 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at the place of commission of the act. The maximum punishment under this article is up to two years in prison. This is a minor crime: a termination is possible here due to the reconciliation of the parties, ”said the Sport24 lawyer.

The captain of the Match TV football team Dmitry Shnyakin did not in any way justify Shirokov's behavior. The well-known commentator noted that he was ready to disqualify the team from the tournament.

“Zero excuses, zero disputes over Shirokov's actions. This is a nightmarish, paralyzing episode that put everyone on the field into a stupor for a couple of seconds. This should not happen in sports, and indeed in life. Regardless of the level, status of the participants, the tension of the game, the quality of the work of the judges, whatever. I am ashamed and extremely sorry that this happened at the cool tournament invented by Herman and his entourage. I apologize to the good referee, footballer Danchenkov. Our team is ready to help him with medical issues. We will take any decision on the team's participation in the tournament. It will be fair in any case. Thank you for understanding. All peace and cool, passionate, but pure play, "- wrote Shnyakin on his Instagram.

Another Match TV commentator Dmitry Guberniev called on the channel to end cooperation with Shirokov after his attack on Danchenkov. Previously, the former player of the Russian national team constantly appeared on the air as a football expert.