"Match TV" suspended the former captain of the Russian national team Roman Shirokov from work as a football expert. The reason for this was a loud scandal that occurred on Monday, when the ex-player of Zenit and Spartak beat the judge Nikita Danchenkov during an amateur match of the TV channel's national team. The commentator Dmitry Guberniev told about this in his Telegram channel.

“On the eve of the evening, the head of the program“ All for the Match! ” Andrey Petrov made the absolutely correct decision to remove Shirokov from all broadcasts of the program. The novel was supposed to review the Champions League today (in fact, the Europa League. - RT ). Once again, I wish the injured referee a speedy recovery and renewed refereeing career, ”Guberniev said.

A little later, the commentator said that Match TV had also suspended cooperation with another ex-captain of the Russian national football team, Andrei Tikhonov. He played on the same team with Shirokov and tried to prevent Danchekov from showing his partner a red card, which became one of the reasons for the attack on the referee. Tikhonov also swore obscenely at the operator who entered the field during the incident.

However, soon Guberniev clarified that Tikhonov would still not be removed from the air, and called his previous words "false alarm". At the same time, the journalist said earlier that he considered it fair if the ex-player of Spartak was no longer invited to the TV studio.

Tina Kandelaki, general producer of Match TV, stated that the athlete should not have resorted to assault.

“In principle, I do not accept violence and I believe that athletes should control themselves in all cases, without exception. There have already been enough episodes when such actions led to dire consequences. I hope that Roman will compensate the judge for the damage and draw the only possible conclusion from this story. Well, the removal from the broadcast of Match TV is an inevitable consequence of such an offense, "Kandelaki wrote in Telegram.

Shirokov has been involved as an expert on sports television since 2016, when he retired from his playing career. He not only worked in the studio and spoke out on current football events, but also covered the games of the Russian championship, paired with professional commentators. On August 11, Shirokov was supposed to take part in the discussion of the Europa League matches, in which Wolverhampton will meet Sevilla and Shakhtar versus Basel.

The head coach of Zenit-2 Vladislav Radimov believes that Shirokov deserved to be removed from the air after the attack on Danchenkov. In his opinion, Match TV does not want to spoil its image by inviting a former football player after the incident.

“The situation is not overblown. Shirokov wrote everything himself today. Throwing fists at the judge is at least wrong. As for the removal, this should be decided by the channel's management. Probably, it considered that at the moment Roman was not the best background. Of course, they will talk about this situation, because we are talking about a public personality, you can't get away from this. And Roman must understand this. But in this case he has something to blame. Another thing is for him to realize and understand. Then, probably, the criticism will be softer. In our country, the people first condemn, and then soften. What else is there to say? The man acted wrong and badly, ”said Radimov RT.

Former footballer of "Spartak" Valery Kechinov considered it fair to dismiss Shirokov from his work as an expert. But at the same time, he said that this punishment is sufficient for the ex-captain of the Russian national team.

“I think the punishment is fair and adequate. Once I have done such an act, I must answer. Therefore, the channel's management did the right thing. Still, they look at him, listen to his opinion, including children. And such actions do not paint anyone. I think this punishment is enough. Now everything is on business, a person should not behave like that, no matter what. You need to control yourself. Moreover, this is an amateur level, not the Champions League. Shirokov should have treated this episode easier, ignored, no matter how the judge judged. Of course, there are different factors, perhaps the referee said something to him, but in any case, you can't behave like that. Shirokov is a good football player, someone looks up to him. Most likely, the attitude towards him will change. In any case, it will not benefit him, "Kechinov said in an interview with RT.

According to the former head coach of the Russian national team Anatoly Byshovets, Shirokov was obliged to set an example with his behavior. However, by his act, he deserved to be left without work on the air.

“The decision to dismiss from work on Match TV was correct. It is worth considering the position that Shirokov occupies in society and in football in particular. It obliges him to promote a healthy lifestyle, to set a positive example that we lack today. His act is difficult to justify. Here we are not talking about football merits, and in fact he was a really good player. This does not give the right to beat a person. It is important that he himself changes and understands that justice is not always worth looking for by any means. I don't think it's worth talking about a more severe punishment. We cannot deprive him of what he has. And the rest will depend on the relationship with the victim, ”Byshovets said.