Well-known journalist, author of books about football Alexei Matveev continues to reveal the secrets of sports. Especially for the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info.

The rarest case, the referee of the international category Sergey Khusainov, even during his active career, was very frank, revealing secrets about football. For which he was persecuted by the functionaries of the RFU, he was actually forced to terminate refereeing ahead of schedule.

“Usually, my colleagues are put under serious pressure by well-dressed, soundly “inflated” young people,” says Sergey Grigorievich. - They are related to commercial structures that finance the local team. And businessmen, openly, crave victories at any cost. For example, they offer services for the club's success in a key match. They dream that their pets will quickly win a "place in the sun." You see, the costs will pay off.

It's not hard to imagine what can happen if the home team falls short. During the break of a football match, those same “pumped-up” boys come up and very intelligently make it clear to the referee: it will be bad if “ours lose”. The arbitrator returns home, and good fellows are waiting for him at the station of his native city. Beaten, threatened with reprisal to the family.

- At least the rules of the competition reflect that the teams are responsible for the safety of the arbitrators, sums up S. Khusainov.

And how are they with this, in the wild West? According to Khusainov, who traveled all over Europe on official business, bankers, directors of reputable stores, owners of firms, that is, financially independent people, often become football referees. And they are not very pecking at the bait of the mafiosi.

In the same Italy, the authority of the referee is indisputable. Nevertheless, after each round of the championship, specialists gather in the TV studio, journalists watch video recordings of the matches together and evaluate the level of refereeing. The national federation intervenes only in exceptional cases, for example, demanding a tougher punishment for disgraced arbitrators.

So, where do they get money in Russia for sometimes very expensive “agreements”, “left” wages for cunning judges? Experienced team leaders allocate "cu" in advance for such "self-supporting". You need to think ahead - at least a month or two ahead. It doesn't hurt to be safe. For example, not only the result of a particular match, but also the tournament fate of the club as a whole depends on certain decisions of the refereeing team.

Let's say the players are preparing to pay a bonus, they sign for it in the statement. But they don’t get the coveted “green” or “wooden” ones. It was agreed with the players and coaches even earlier that these club funds would be used for "black" refereeing, for "work" with the players, coaches of other teams, etc. Masters understand their leaders with a half-word, half-gesture.

- It's no secret that representatives of many Russian clubs are forced to bow to the mafia, because they themselves still do not know how to earn money, - says a source familiar to the Cheka-OGPU. - The budgets of football teams consist of 80 percent of "shadow" funds. And whoever thinks that Mafia fans supply clubs with money just like that, out of love for football, is mistaken.

According to the source, team leaders are offered measly percentages for generously allocated amounts. The goal is simple - to turn their commercial operations under the shadow of a football club. Such a merchant trusts club bosses, for example, to sell a carload of expensive imported shoes or clothes on the domestic market. At the same time, 70-75 percent of the proceeds go to the “shadow companies”, and only crumbs to the football team. This is also a lot: enough not only for bread and butter, but also for the notorious bribery of fellow football rivals.

Of course, the clubs also have quite legal sponsors, but their funds are not always enough even for the production of soap bubbles. And therefore, without the mafia - not a step. All sorts of criminal "bugs" - some smaller, others larger - are sent with teams abroad for European cup matches. And the baggage of flights of football teams is either not inspected at all, or looks formal, for show. And the “merchants” who take care of the club take out diamonds, precious metals, and you never know what else. Realize good on the "black" market. And - again, part of the money is pumped into football. In the jargon of bandits, this is a normal “laundering”!

 

- At the calendar game of the championship, very cool "businessmen" meet with the fathers of the city, - the expert continues the story. – It is there that mutually beneficial deals are often negotiated. Where is it even easier to solve such cases than at a football match, if, in addition, the head of the city, region or region is a football fan. He will break his forehead for the well-being of his favorite team. And then the entrepreneur starts talking about real estate that interests him. Of course, the issue is resolved at once if the merchant transfers a tidy sum to the club's account.

... The VChK-OGPU already spoke in detail about the complete and unconditional merger of big football and the mafia using the example of the capital's Spartak from the time of Oleg Romantsev. Here is a short an excerpt from our publications on the murder of the former general director of Spartak Larisa Nechaeva. It happened in the summer of 1997. Here is what the then senior detective of the GUUR of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, police lieutenant colonel A. Derkach, reported to the head of the same department, Lieutenant General I. Khrapov: “... It was established that the vice president of the club G.V. Esaulenko after the death of L.G. Nechaeva acts as director. He was allocated funds to organize refereeing in custom matches. He did not report to anyone about spending money. With the arrival of Nechaeva, Esaulenko began to be removed from the above duties. On this basis, they repeatedly had conflicts ... In addition, Esaulenko was repeatedly seen in the company of the Chechen brothers Atlangiriyevs - Turpul and Movladi. The latter was in prison together with Vladimir Tenoshvili, a suspect in the murder. The Atlangiriev brothers are the founders of the Razgulay restaurant. Esaulenko has his share in the restaurant. He maintains ties with the leaders of the Lyubertsy organized crime group and uses the services of Chechens in his commercial activities ... ". The situation is the same in other Russian clubs - no better, and maybe no worse.

Will at least someone declare war on the “shadow companies”? Don't believe in it. The Premier League is just the tip of the iceberg. A class below, in the first league, the situation is even more depressing. According to some experts, almost a quarter of all matches played there belong to the “strange” category. That is, without proper wrestling, and sometimes even without a hint of playing football.

- It is necessary to attract professionals with clean hands and thoughts, there are such people, I guarantee you, - says the anonymous expert. “And give them real power in football. Without it, offer do not offer - all a bluff. Of course, the state should delegate this power, who else?! Probably, it is necessary to act, as in the case of the once "unsinkable" RFU President Koloskov. The administration of the President of the country intervened and sent the official into forced resignation.

The executive committee of the RFU is also obliged to work together with law enforcement officers, without such a bunch it is impossible to overcome crime. And it should not matter how high patrons some of the dealers have, what club they represent. The system must work.

There are also sports methods of dealing with negativity. Alas, they have never been used by officials of the Russian Football Union.

- In our country, as in all of Europe, the national federation should decide, - retired referee Sergey Khusainov believes. - Authoritative experts gather, watch the recording. Their verdict, no matter how harsh, is accepted for execution. In some countries, clubs start the league with a negative points balance. This is a consequence of sanctions, including for holding “fixed” matches. And clubs usually do not sue football federations - not recommended by FIFA, UEFA.

Will our functionaries risk taking at least half measures in the fight against "agreements", unscrupulous refereeing? Hardly. They are probably waiting for a political solution to the issue. If they give the go-ahead from above, then maybe the football managers will decide on something. And that is problematic. Scary for them...

Alexey Matveev

Source: www.rucriminal.info