“We should talk about the quality of football”: why Spartak should ignore the discussion of the work of judges

“Another page has been written in the history of curious penalties”

"Spartak" and judicial scandals, perhaps, have finally become synonymous in domestic football.

In recent years, fans of other clubs have already become accustomed to the fact that Muscovites complain about the work of referees with enviable regularity, analyze each controversial episode under a microscope and compare it with other game situations in which diametrically opposite decisions were made.

The start of the new season was no exception - both meetings of the red and white left the usual train of indignation.

Surprisingly, the club's management still had complaints against the referee even after a convincingly won meeting in Krasnodar, in the first half of which Kirill Levnikov "deprived" Alexander Storozhuk's team twice.

At first, he did not show a second yellow card to Alexander Sobolev for hitting Vyacheslav Litvinov in the face with his elbow during a riding fight and directly sent off Alexander Chernikov for unsportsmanlike behavior when he only slightly touched Victor Moses.

However, according to the owner of the club, Leonid Fedun, the referee should not have given a penalty kick to the Muscovites for hitting the ball in the hand of Daniil Denisov after a rebound from his face.

“Good win!

But, of course, another wonderful page has been written in the history of curious penalties.

A man was hit in the head from all over - a “point” is put.

I would look at any referee who would similarly receive the ball with his face and then play.

And so it’s great, ”the Sport-Express functionary quotes.

A day later, Krasnodar published a video on social networks with a cut of all the controversial episodes.

The team considered that before the goal of Roman Zobnin, his partner Christopher Martins Pereira played along with his hand and "admired" the acting skills of the Nigerian legionnaire.

Southerners reacted to the editing with a sense of humor and named Levnikov as the director of the video, and Yevgeny Kukulyak, assistant at VAR, as his assistant (by the way, the red-and-whites did not remain in debt and responded with a video with Internet memes).

According to media reports, along the way, the club turned to the RFU Expert Referee Commission on three controversial episodes.

How seriously the hosts were outraged by the work of the team of referees is best evidenced by the fact that their owner, Sergei Galitsky, after the final whistle, went into the referees' room without permission.

Now his behavior will be considered by the Control and Disciplinary Committee of the RFU.

At the end of the match of the first round with Akhmat, the red-whites also criticized the refereeing of Vladislav Bezborodov in Grozny and filed a complaint with the ESC RFU on five points at once.

In particular, they considered it an erroneous decision to show the second yellow card to defender Maciej Rybus, complained that the Grozny team scored the only goal with a violation, and stressed that the referee had to remove goalkeeper Giorgi Shelia in the end and award a penalty.

But the members of the commission took the side of the arbitrator and considered his actions in all episodes to be absolutely correct.

Former judge Sergei Khusainov fully supports the conclusions of the experts.

In his opinion, loud statements about bias towards the ten-time champion of the country are sucked out of thin air, although there were some mistakes.

So, he called the removal of Rybus at the start of the season fair, but at the same time he criticized the young colleague.

“Of course, more questions for the Pole.

Why did he start grabbing his opponent by the throat, having a yellow card?

On the other hand, such an experienced referee as Bezborodov could anticipate the situation and immediately separate the players on different sides.

He seemed to provoke Maciej to be rude.

But there can be no questions about its decision.

Clear yellow card with a red tint.

If desired, it was possible to remove it directly, ”Khusainov said in a conversation with RT.

One of the Spartak players should have seen a red card in front of him in the second round.

The veteran of the judiciary believes that Levnikov was obliged to punish Sobolev with a second "yellow card", but did not.

But the expulsion from the field of Chernikov for unsportsmanlike behavior did not cause questions for him, since the defensive midfielder himself gave a reason for this.

“The first leg movement from Alexander turned out to be unplayable.

He aggressively hit Moses in the groin area.

Then he touched his neck with his hand.

Again, the movement was completely conscious and had nothing to do with football.

Levnikov made an absolutely correct verdict,” Khusainov added.

As for the penalty for Denisov's handball, the expert was in solidarity with Fedun.

The specialist emphasized that the defender physically did not have time to remove his hand after the rebound from the face and initially did not try to block her path to the goal, that is, did not increase the body area.

Summing up, Levnikov, according to his colleague, made one gross mistake in each direction, but did not affect the outcome of the match.

"Spartak" constantly complains about the work of the referees"

However, from time to time the judges allow effective blots, which help the Moscow grandee to score points.

According to the former head coach of Spartak-2 Evgeny Bushmanov, by putting pressure on the referees, the management is trying to protect the team.

“Judges' mistakes were, are and will be.

And they do it not only in matches involving Spartak.

But the club adopted such a line of behavior - to criticize the referees in the hope that this will somehow help, ”the specialist explained in an interview with RT.

At the same time, he also associated regular refereeing scandals in red-and-white games with the team's great popularity.

Any controversial decision in such a situation is literally under a microscope and is discussed by the whole country, while the referee's mistakes in meetings of other teams go unnoticed.

In turn, the former captain of Zenit, Vladislav Radimov, on the contrary, believes that the club enjoys this very popularity and is happy to spin such stories in order to attract even more attention to themselves.

Spartak constantly complains about the work of the referees.

It seems that everyone has long been accustomed to this.

It's hard for me to say why you need to behave this way.

Perhaps they want more PR for the club.

The leadership of the red-whites has attracted additional attention in this way for several years now.

If the goal is to achieve frequent mention in the media, they can continue in the same spirit.

In my opinion, the result is much more important,” said Radimov.

But if the management regularly allow themselves to criticize the judges, the new head coach Guillermo Abascal and his wards refrain from this.

For example, the Spaniard, after a draw with Akhmat, answering a question about the removal of Rybus, instead of reproaches against Bezborodov, complained about the behavior of an experienced football player who, having a yellow card, had no right to succumb to emotions.

According to Bushmanov, the colleague behaves absolutely correctly.

Refusing to bring up the topic of refereeing, he makes it clear to his players that all issues must be resolved independently on the football field so that there is no reason to complain about the referee.

“We should pay more attention to the game, and not to extraneous factors.

And the coach should first of all talk about the quality of football and pay attention to his team.

You need to understand that not a single specialist is able to control the actions of the arbitrator, in contrast to the level of play of the team entrusted to him, ”the expert emphasized.

Radimov was in solidarity with him, but suggested that the players do not follow the statements of the club's leaders, and when they enter the field, being professionals, they forget about all extraneous moments.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the complaints of Fedun and his wife Zarema Salikhova will negatively affect the results.

A striking example was the defeat of Krasnodar after losing points in the confrontation with Akhmat.

However, in Spartak they are trying to lower the degree and change their attitude to what is happening.

So, on July 27, the referee committee will hold a seminar for the team, where they will discuss all the controversial episodes.

Perhaps after this, the club will become less negative towards the referee.

“We need clarification on how the judges interpret this, what they refer to.

I would like to get specifics on controversial issues, ”said the director of the red and white Yevgeny Melezhikov.

However, Radimov is confident that even if Muscovites continue to regularly criticize judges, this is unlikely to help them.

“I'm sure no matter how much the club complains, it won't work.

It is difficult to imagine how the referee, after another loud statement by Fedun, will begin to make blots.

However, I don’t expect a backlash or any deliberate suffocation.

Rather, it will be a normal operation with an equal number of errors in all directions.

I am convinced that the arbitrators, even if they hear such tirades, do not take them to heart, ”he summed up.