After the meeting of the executive committee of the Russian Football Union, the head of the organization, Alexander Dyukov, held an hour and a half teleconference with media representatives. First of all, journalists were interested in issues related to refereeing, in particular, the work of the head of the refereeing corps, Viktor Kashshai. Dyukov urged to give the Hungarian specialist time.
“Kashshai has been working for only six months. These six months were very difficult. There was a break, then the virus came with all the consequences and difficulties. It is difficult to draw conclusions for this half-year, you need to give him and the team time. I try to watch football when there is time and opportunity, but I couldn't see everything. I am neither a connoisseur nor an expert from the point of view of judging, I am trying to formalize this work for myself. I evaluate it by those decisions that the clubs do not agree with, for which there are appeals. During this time, there were nine hits, 20 episodes. The Expert Judicial Commission supported the judges in 16 episodes, in three did not support, in one did not agree, "Dyukov said.
The head of the RFU also appreciated the work of the operational headquarters of the Russian Premier League in countering coronavirus. He noted that the organization alone could not prevent all cases of mass infections that occurred in the clubs. Dyukov noted that all participants in the Russian championship had to fight the disease.
“Not everything depends on the headquarters, there is no one person who could solve the problem on his own ... This is collective work and collective responsibility, the responsibility of clubs and players. You can take all the precautions, but still get sick. If you are really actively communicating with someone outside the club, then the chances of getting infected increase. We live in new conditions in which everyone must behave in a disciplined manner, ”the functionary recalled.
Infections in the clubs led to such unpleasant events as the cancellation or postponement of matches, as well as the non-admission of the players of the main roster of Rostov to play against Sochi. Dyukov took responsibility for the fact that Valery Karpin's team was forced to put up the youth team and lost with a score of 1:10. At the same time, he recalled the confidence of the RPL clubs in the president of the league, Sergei Pryadkin.
“All clubs, without exception, supported his candidacy, all voted for a new contract with him. After the resumption of the championship, a number of events raised questions for Pryadkin, there were claims from Rostov. I understand his emotional reaction ... I do not see any guilt of Pryadkin. If we talk about this controversy with the postponement of matches, then, probably, I opened the Pandora's box. Perhaps it was my mistake when I gave Rostov and Sochi an opportunity to come to an agreement. I was motivated by the desire to return football. We did not even foresee a date for the postponement, the Cup of Russia could not be used for this ... At the same time, with all due respect to Rostov, if the sanitary regulations were observed, nothing would have happened, "Dyukov said.
To a clarifying question about his participation in the scandal with Rostov and Sochi, the head of the RFU admitted that he had made a mistake, allowing the clubs to agree among themselves about the match. At the same time, he noted that, in general, this episode did not affect the integrity of the tournament.
“The game decision is my decision. I'm not sure I was right ... Pryadkin did not come to me, he just believed that the matches should not be postponed. I thought that so much effort was spent on resuming the season, and it was not sporting to write down the "techie" right away. From this came what came out. This was my initiative, there should be no complaints about Pryadkin. The only complaint against him is that he did not dissuade me. This created a negative, but we really finished the championship, and I can't say that something terrible happened and the decisions somehow influenced the final table. This decision did not make serious adjustments, ”Dyukov said.
The functionary noted that in the future he will try to prevent the occurrence of such conflict situations. He also recalled that the clubs themselves need, first of all, to comply with the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor in order to avoid outbreaks of coronavirus.
“If you follow the sanitary regulations and follow the recommendations, outbreaks are excluded. I don't want to comment on what happened, but the clubs did a lot to make it happen, although they did not want it. We call for adherence and responsible behavior. With regard to the possibility of rescheduling matches, the league should make this decision. There are different approaches. Someone thinks that there is no need to reserve dates, because sooner or later this will lead to conflicts. Others believe that match windows for clubs affected by COVID-19 is a better approach, as it will respect the sporting principle. Our wish is that this should be clearly spelled out and there should be no gray areas that will cause controversy in case of an ambiguous situation, ”said the President of the RFU.
The issue of Khimki's transition from the FNL to the RPL was also on the agenda. Dyukov expressed the opinion that the club did the wrong thing, starting to "rush" between the two leagues.
“Formally, Khimki confirmed their participation in the RPL, sent a letter and a statement. The verbal statements of the club representatives and the management disorientated everyone and made everyone nervous, this, of course, is not normal. On July 9, Khimki sent a letter of desire to join the RPL. We did everything right formally, but added nervousness. We need to think about what changes to make so that this will not happen again, ”said the head of the RFU.
Dyukov also expressed his negative attitude towards the recent skirmish between the owner of Spartak Leonid Fedun and the general director of Zenit Alexander Medvedev.
“This pick is already beyond the bounds and does not paint football clubs. It is clear that every sport has its own unwritten code of ethics, and in football, if you take Europe and the world, this behavior is not accepted and welcomed. There is tennis, where the rules are even stricter, and there is MMA, where trash-talk is an integral part. Football is a different sport with a different code of ethics. I want to encourage the clubs to take a deep breath and calm down. The pick has gone beyond the boundaries of what is permitted, "the head of the RFU noted.
At the executive committee of the RFU, a decision was made on the possible cancellation of erroneous yellow cards, which could lead to the disqualification of players for one match. Dyukov noted that this will be an experiment that may end when the level of refereeing increases.
“The decision we made does not correspond to the practice and the approaches that UEFA and FIFA advocate. It was adopted based on our Russian reality. There were cases when players received the fourth and eighth cards, although there were many questions about them. This is a kind of test, experiment. Let's see what will happen next. It is quite possible that we will return to the fact that these cards will not be revised when there are fewer questions to refereeing, ”Dyukov shared his expectations.
Finally, Dyukov said that the RFU will work to increase the number of fans at the stadiums. Now this issue is in the introduction of the regions with which the organization plans to continue to work closely.
“According to the regulations that are being discussed, it is envisaged that fans of the guest team attend matches, but not according to the guest quota, but according to common tickets. We proceed from the premise that the return should be gradual. The experience with the opening of 10% of the total number of places can be considered successful. Perhaps some fans are violating the mask regime and the distance. Now it will be easier for us to deal with more viewers. Based on the epidemiological situation and our experience, my opinion: you can increase the number of viewers. But this is the competence of local authorities. In Moscow, a deliberate decision to allow 50% of the fans to sit through the seats will not worsen the situation. We will be proactive and will go out to the governors, citing Moscow as an example, ”promised the RFU President.