A tough interview with Syomin, the conflict between Malafeev and Dziuba and the end of Anyukov’s career: what is being discussed before restarting the RPL

The resumption of the season two days earlier and the mask regime in the stadiums

The current RPL season will resume on June 19. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. According to him, football will return to the life of Russians before hockey and basketball. At the same time, in mid-May, the RFU Executive Committee set the restart date of the tournament to June 21.

RPL on its official website has already published the schedule of the remaining matches. In the starting meeting of the 23rd round on June 19, “Wings of the Soviets” and “Akhmat” will meet. A little later, Sochi and Rostov will face off. On June 20, Ural will receive Rubin, Arsenal Spartak, and CSKA Zenit.

On the 21st, Lokomotiv will test Orenburg, Ufa - Tambov, and Krasnodar - Dynamo.

In turn, the Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin confirmed that the season will resume with spectators in the stands. However, fans will be required to come to the stadiums in masks and gloves and will not be able to bring food with them - only water.

“The matches of the 23rd round will be played from June 19 to 21. During the meeting, all requirements of Rospotrebnadzor will be met. Extremely important is the health of the participants. All security measures will be implemented at the stage of entry to the stadium, ”R-Sport quoted Matytsina with reference to the broadcast of“ Russia 24 ”. 

Last week, Rospotrebnadzor approved holding matches of the national championship with spectators, but clubs will be able to fill only 10% of the arenas. And “Krasnodar” and “Sochi”, representing the Krasnodar Territory, will have to play while standing in empty stands. This is the decision of the local authorities.

Revelation of Semin and L'One's dissatisfaction with the Lokomotiv press service

On the night of Sunday to Monday, the first large interview with Yuri Semin was published in the media in which he spoke about his departure from Lokomotiv. On May 31, the coach's contract with the railway workers expired, and he got the opportunity to speak on this topic.

The conversation with the 73-year-old specialist turned out to be as frank as possible. He spoke harshly about the club’s general director Vasily Kiknadze and chairman of the board of directors Anatoly Meshcheryakov. In particular, Semin explained that he left Lokomotiv because he did not want to be a “hand coach” for them.

“While these leaders are working in the club, I do not need any posts. To attend matches in Cherkizovo, I will either buy myself a box, or I will go to friends. Whenever I want. When they finish their restructuring and others come, I will be back. I love Lokomotiv, this is a huge part of my life. This club has given me a lot. And he has nothing to do with this group of people, ”the Sport Express specialist quotes. 

Semin also admitted that he was dissatisfied with the processes of staffing the team. According to him, the compilation of the list of newcomers in the metropolitan team is currently engaged in "wallpaper seller" Andrei Losyuk. He mentioned the Algerian agent Nabil Merabten. 

“It was on this basis that my conflict with leaders occurred. Explain why Kiknadze, a distant relative, or not a relative, works in such an important position, but in any case, a person whose qualifications do not correspond to my ideas about football and a solid club? Why should I consider his recommendations? ” - added Semin. 

However, the 73-year-old specialist admitted that he did not intend to end his career and was ready to return to Lokomotiv in the future.  

“If there is a normal offer, I'll go to work. Finance at this stage is not the main thing. It can be clubs of any level, but FNL - no, the near abroad - yes. There is no RPL club where I won’t go under any circumstances. Do I believe that I will still be the head coach of Lokomotiv? Why not? Of course I believe!" - summed up the coach.  

In turn, Lokomotiv tried to lead the coach, who won 11 trophies with the team, with dignity. For example, on May 31, on the last day of Semin’s work at the club, a 30-second video was played on the media facade of the building near the Russian Railways Arena, which included photographs of a specialist with various trophies. And on the website of the railway workers a number of materials dedicated to the specialist were published.  

On this basis, the famous rapper and admirer of Lokomotiv Levan Goroziya even accused the club press service of hypocrisy, since she did not react to the information about the non-renewal of the contract with Semin on May 14. In response, Lokomotiv’s director of public relations, Cyril Braido, said the press service had prepared the trainer for 220 posts of thanks.

Revelations of Malafeev about the conflict with Dziuba

On May 31, the current agreement also ended with the deputy sports director of Zenit Vyacheslav Malafeev, who took up the post in the former team a year and a half after the end of his sports career. The bronze medalist of the European Championship did not renew the expiring contract.

And immediately after leaving Zenit, he, following the example of Semin, gave a detailed interview about his work in the camp of Petersburgers. The most acute was the question of his relationship with Artyom Dziuba. According to the former goalkeeper, there was a conflict between them before the striker left for rent at Arsenal in 2018. Dziuba emphasized that Malafeev had provoked him more than once and acted "disgustingly."

In response, the functionary explained that, trying to attach the player to another team, he was only following the instructions of the club, since then Zenit head coach Roberto Mancini did not want to work with the striker. At the same time, the forward himself, according to Malafeev, refused to leave Russia.

“Any normal person in such a situation will seek opportunities for a constructive dialogue. If he didn’t like something, we could always discuss it calmly. And Dziuba decided to do all this through the press, deliberately hit my reputation. And this is considering that I can’t answer him in any way. This is exactly the same if I challenged Dziuba to sparring and tied his hands, while I hit him. One-way traffic, ”Metaratings quoted the functionary as saying. 

Malafeev also spoke about the threats that came from him by Irakli Gegechkori, agent of CSKA footballer Ilzat Akhmetov. This, according to the ex-deputy sports director of Zenit, occurred during negotiations on the signing of a contract with the midfielder. In response, Gegechkori called Malafeev “upstart” and said that he opposed the appearance of Akhmetov in the team.   

Akhmetov and Miranchuk injuries and positive tests for coronavirus in Lokomotiv

Meanwhile, Ilzat himself flew to Munich, where he underwent surgery on the shoulder joint. According to the player’s agent, he received damage even in the match against Zenit, but surgery was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The midfielder recovery deadlines will be announced later.  

Football players of another Lokomotiv team from the capital were not without damage. On Friday, RT released information on an injury to the foot of Anton Miranchuk, which he received during training. According to the source, the midfielder dropped out for a month and may miss the rest of the season. However, a post appeared on the Telegram channel "Football Bigi" stating that Anton still avoided serious damage, escaping with a bruise. 

But coronavirus has become a serious obstacle for railway workers. Five team players, including the main midfielder Dmitry Barinov, have already passed positive tests on COVID-19. Fortunately, in four of them, the disease is asymptomatic, but players will miss an important time in preparation for the resumption of the season.

There were no other positive tests for coronavirus over the past week in the RPL.  

Extension of the contract with Semak and the end of his career Anyukov

In anticipation of the resumption of the season, Russian clubs so far do without high-profile purchases, limiting themselves to renewing contracts with existing players. And “Zenith” at the beginning of the week signed a new agreement with head coach Sergei Semak. It is concluded for two seasons with the possibility of extension for another one.

“There was no uncertainty. Everything is simple and clear. It took a little longer, but this is due to the situation that has developed with coronavirus. In principle, there were no contentious issues. Working moments specified in almost two meetings. We agreed on everything with Alexander Ivanovich (Medvedev. - RT ), ”the Zenit official website quotes the trainer.  

In turn, commenting on the extension of the agreement with Semak, the CEO stressed that the club will not look for newcomers until the end of the season. But, according to the Italian press, Zenit in the near future seems to be left without Serdar Azmun. According to Calciomercato, the Iranian is interested not only in Napoli, but also in Milan, allegedly in contact with the player’s agent.  

Meanwhile, the significant player for Zenit announced the end of his career last week, Alexander Anyukov. The defender, who in 2008 won the bronze of the European Championship with the Russian national team, gave Petersburgers 14 years. As part of a team from the banks of the Neva, he spent a total of 417 matches, in which he scored 13 goals. Together with Zenit, the footballer became the country's champion five times, won the Super Bowl four times and the Russian Cup two times. Anyukov is also the owner of the UEFA Cup and Super Cup.

In July last year, Alexander on a rental basis moved to his native Wings of the Soviets. This season, the RPL defender took part in 18 matches. However, the 37-year-old footballer did not finish his game. In the near future he will return to Zenit and focus on coaching.

Information about the possible return of Denis Glushakov to Spartak, which appeared on the Mash Telegram channel, caused serious excitement among the fans. The player himself said that he had extended the contract with Akhmat until the end of the season, and promised to think about possible options for continuing his career after it ended.  

“If you said somewhere that I want to return to Spartak, since this is a special club for me, then you don’t have to woo me right there. Yes, I have serious football ambitions and a lot of strength to solve big problems. But it makes sense to think about any contracts after the season, now it’s only the team’s work and tasks in the tournament, ”Glushakov quotes“ Championship ”.  

The general director of the Moscow Spartak Thomas Zorn instantly denied the information appeared in the media, and the club owner Leonid Fedun called it about the return of the midfielder to the team as "delirium."

So far, the red-white ones have limited themselves to returning from rental at Rubin Alexander Tashayev. But midfielder Ayaz Guliyev, who has been suspended from training with the first Spartak team due to a conflict with the coaching staff, may return to Rostov, according to domestic media.  

Of the other notable transfer news, it is worth noting the departure from the Urals of Mikhail Merkulov. In the new year, the football player did not take part in the matches of Yekaterinburg due to a conflict with the club’s management. And after the contract expired, he posted on his Instagram a frame from the famous film about the wizard Harry Potter, in which the Dobby little house-maker regains his freedom by getting a sock. Later, Mikhail removed his post, and the president of the Urals, Grigory Ivanov, called it a “moron”.  

According to media reports, in the near future, the left-back will be able to replenish the composition of Kazan “Rubin” as a free agent. Leonid Slutsky is in dire need of a performer for this position.