The club`s management is under investigation, and one referee has been detained. The RFS also fined the club 5 million rubles. Football circles consider this an unprecedented case and do not rule out that the investigation could affect other teams.
Moscow football club Torpedo has been excluded from the Russian Premier League. The decision was made by the Russian Football Union (RFS). The official reason is `attempted organization of fixed matches.` A football referee faces a criminal sentence.
The incident with Torpedo is something «old-timers don`t remember,» a common phrase used to describe unprecedented events. While suspicions of match-fixing arise every season, this is the first time in many years that an investigation has led to a club being excluded from the upcoming RPL season, which starts next week. The RFS also fined Torpedo 5 million rubles.
The situation began in June when Torpedo owner Leonid Sobolev and club director Valery Skorodumov were sent to a pre-trial detention center in a case involving illicit influence on sports results. Three of Torpedo`s matches—in March, April, and May—against the clubs Rodina, Ural, and Shinnik were deemed suspicious.
Referee Maxim Perezva was reportedly offered between 250 thousand and 3 million rubles for ensuring favorable results for Torpedo, but he refused. The RFS has banned Sobolev from football positions for five years and Skorodumov for ten. Furthermore, on July 8, according to RBC sources, football referee Bogdan Golovko was detained. He is alleged to have failed to award a penalty against Torpedo in a match against KAMAZ. As a result of that specific match, Torpedo was promoted from the First League to the RPL, only to be excluded now before the season even began, notes sports commentator Alexey Andronov:
Alexey Andronov
Sports commentator for Viju+Sport TV channel
The way things unfolded, there couldn`t have been any other outcome. If it was just about one referee, one could argue, as the defense for Torpedo`s management claimed, that it was all slander. But a much larger issue is being uncovered, and it`s possible this will affect more teams than just Torpedo. This isn`t the first time this has happened in our history. In the 90s, there was a team `Iriston` (Vladikavkaz) that was also caught. From my perspective, Torpedo should be dropped to the level of an amateur club, outside professional football entirely, and start completely from scratch – similar to what happened, for different reasons, with Glasgow Rangers in Scotland, which was moved to the fourth division after bankruptcy. Otherwise, it seems strange: so, you`re not fit for the Premier League, but it`s okay to drop back to the FNL (First League) and continue doing the same thing there? It`s rather ambiguous.
Referee Bogdan Golovko, 33, from Volgograd, has primarily officiated lower league matches. His only previous media mention was following a scandal in Grozny, where he was attacked on the field after officiating a youth match between Akhmat and Spartak. In the match between Torpedo and KAMAZ, there were two disputed moments related to unawarded penalties against the Moscow club. The commission upheld the first decision, but the second remained disputed. Golovko is currently detained and faces up to seven years in prison. However, the charge could still be adjusted, says Igor Simonov, managing partner at Gagarin law firm:
Igor Simonov
Managing partner at Gagarin law firm
In this specific instance, I don`t recall it stemming directly from actions on the field – involving players, referees, and so on. We have an article that isn`t frequently applied: `Exerting unlawful influence on the results of an official sports competition or commercial spectator contest,` Article 184 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The legislator decided to specify things more clearly – simple commercial bribery wasn`t sufficient for this qualification, so they added more specific details. Again, bookmakers and such are involved, and we understand that significant money often depends on the outcomes. So, perhaps someone decided they needed to pay the referee and make money through betting. The fact remains – such liability exists. If it`s an organized group, the penalty is up to seven years. If the person acted alone, that falls under the first part of the article, with a penalty up to five years. We will see how this develops.
The future of Torpedo remains uncertain, with a decision still pending. It is unlikely that the club will remain in the First League. The lawyer for Torpedo owner Leonid Sobolev told RIA Novosti that the club would disband if excluded. The Russian Football Union informed Business FM only that, for now, the decision to exclude Torpedo from the RPL `does not imply the club`s inability to participate in other competitions.`
