“Zenith” and “Spartak” were responsible for the fight – Sport – Kommersant

The Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Russian Football Union (FTC RFU) analyzed the incident that occurred after the end of regular time of the match of the sixth round of the Russian Cup group stage between Zenit and Spartak. Then, almost simultaneously with the final whistle of referee Vladimir Moskalev, a mass brawl began on the field, as a result of which St. Petersburg residents Wilmar Barrios, Rodrigao and Malcom received red cards, as well as Muscovites Shamar Nicholson, Alexander Sobolev and Alexander Selikhov. As a result, all six were suspended by the FTC for six cup matches each.

Football carnage, which ended the recent match of the Cup of Russia “Zenith” – “Spartak”, became the main topic of the next meeting of the RFU FTC. Moreover, there was some intrigue in what sanctions would be applied to the participants in the fight in the team-on-team format. In hot pursuit, referee Vladimir Moskalev, with the help of the VAR team, handed out red cards to three players from both sides. Accordingly, Wilmar Barrios, Rodrigao and Malcolm were punished as part of Zenit, and Shamar Nicholson, Alexander Sobolev and Alexander Selikhov were punished at Spartak. It is curious that Malcolm and Sobolev were already on the bench at the time of the incident, as they were replaced, and Selikhov did not participate in the match at all.

At the same time, it was clearly visible that the fight began with a skirmish between Barrios and Spartak Quincy Promes. Then Nicholson and Rodrigao joined them, after which the conflict became widespread. Representatives of Zenit insisted that Promes also deserved to be removed, and even turned to the Expert Referee Commission (ESC) of the RFU about this.

In general, in their opinion, Barrios and Malcolm were removed incorrectly, but Spartak, in addition to Nicholson, Sobolev and Selikhov, had to punish not only Promes, but also Nail Umyarov.

As a result, the ESC considered that the referee Moskalev was mistaken only in that he did not show a red card to Promes. According to statement ESC on the official website of the RFU, the Dutchman was the direct instigator of a mass confrontation, provoked rivals and committed aggressive actions against Zenit footballer Wilmar Barrios, namely: he grabbed him by the neck and made literally a “scratching face movement”, that is, translated into Russian tongue, apparently, wanted to scratch the Colombian’s face.

However, the FTC, despite the opinion of Zenit and the ESC, based on its own case materials, fully supported the decisions of the referee Moskalev and decided to disqualify only those players who received red cards immediately after the incident. Thus, Barrios, Rodrigao, Malcolm, Nicholson, Sobolev and Selikhov were held responsible for participating in the mass brawl.

All six must miss six matches in the Russian Cup.

As for Promes, the chairman of the RFU FTC Artur Grigoryants commented on the situation to the publication “Sport-Express”: “We have investigated this issue. Moskalev said that he saw the actions of Promes and appreciated them. We have no reason to apply additional sanctions to the player.” “The FTC found that it all started with Promes and Barrios,” Artur Grigoryants also noted. “But, as Moskalev said, they would have pushed around and that’s all. If Rodrigao had not hit Nicholson, there would have been no fight. The referee would have just shown the yellow cards to Promes and Barrios.”

Meanwhile, Zenit has already announced that it is going to appeal the decision of the FTC. In fact, such long disqualifications of football players mean that they are unlikely to be able to take part in the current Russian Cup and may have to “live out” their terms in the next tournament. But, according to the chairman of the FTC, the regulation does not allow less severe sanctions to be applied to violators of discipline under this article.

Alexander Ilyin