CSKA fans, like mobilozomboids from the last novel by Stephen King, stick their teeth into every throat, which barely managed to squeeze out the doubt about the crystal clearness of all army victories. The players of the “I won’t say” team, discussing a fresh win on the plane on the way home, aloud doubt that the opponent had a desire to defeat them. Spartak fans draw a poster where Giner, in a sublime mastercard style, admires his priceless gift to buy. Vladislav Radimov hints that he and Shirla were removed by the judges specifically for the match with CSKA. Yegor Titov calls for an investigation. A cautious newspaper usually publishes anonymous thoughts about how the middle peasants of the Russian championship paint a bullet: three points to you, three points to me. Andrei Kanchelskis through the press suggests “Spartak” to stimulate their Samara desire to fight with CSKA. The Spartak players are fighting (according to the official version, they are moderately shoving) with the Tomi players, they call Petrakov’s coach “horse”, suspecting that this Siberian FC is of the same breed as the Giner team. Effective Gazprom management, warming up the public that has already been baked all over, requires CSKA consciousness and asks for a replay of the match. Professional football veteran clicks howl about the fact that everything was bought, except for the honest Spartak. Spartak fans have already learned to see smoke even where ordinary electric light is pouring from stadium masts. A friend calls in the morning and says that CSKA intentionally lost in Samara in order to avert suspicions from itself. Even those who don’t know which side to go to the window of the bookmaker cash register, on the eve of the tour, they study quotes, guessing by the coefficients: 1.15 - is this an agreement or what? And only Valery Georgievich Gazzaev, having seated widely, confidently, as the main physical force in a crowded tram, is calm and condescending: either a joke will tell a joke, then he will accuse journalists of corruption, then he admits that Zenit did not have a single goal for the entire match moment - and this is with two goals Arshavin scored from invented “offside”.
Everyone got mad.
And THAT'S WHAT: the 2006 championship was the dirtiest and hysterical in recent history. It was not made by fans who, by nature, are supposed to be passionate and touchy. And not even journalists who, on the one hand, just fix (smartly or stupidly, honestly or biased) public moods, and on the other hand put a dictaphone under their nose. And what will be recorded in this recorder - Spartak hysteria in Tomsk and Moscow against Tom, Gazzaev’s remarks about clowning in the judiciary, Giner's assurances that there are no problems in Russia with either match-fixing or prejudiced refereeing - this is already a question for him. A journalist is just a medium, a translator for those who want to hear and be heard.
From the fan who is now trying to make out someone’s financial contribution for each penalty awarded, and in every match where there was no wrestling, an illegal contract is dismissed as if annoying crazy: go go to your forums. And even if the fan is wrong, at least 70 percent, at least 80, this is not his problem, the fan. He will scream, swear, and then quietly do not turn on the TV at a football match, do not buy a ticket, bury a fan scarf among last year's mittens. He may be wrong in his maximalism, only the collective mind of football officials, referees, leaders no longer has trust, he has one chuckle for everyone - who is cynical, who is annoyed. And whose problem is it then?
In a similar situation, the Association of Professional Tennis Players, who did not care what they said and thought about it, conducted its own internal investigation, and those who cheated, quietly, without much scandal, suddenly all at once left her ranks, finished with tennis. Our extremely closed, living by strong concepts football community, this option would be best suited.
Stanislav Gridasov - editor-in-chief of PROport magazine