Dynamo Moscow have decided to appeal to UEFA over a penalty given to Terek Grozny during the club's recent match in the Chechen capital of Grozny, club president Yury Isayev said on Thursday .
After Dynamo's 1-1 draw in Grozny on April 18, Isayev alleged that "other factors" aside from the circumstances of the match had influenced Stanislav Sukhin's decision to award Terek a 95th minute penalty.
He also said that Dynamo's lawyers would prepare an appeal to both UEFA and Russia's General Prosecutor's Office.
However, Isayev told Sport Express that the club would not now go ahead with the appeal, but that the club would undertake measures aimed at "cleaning up" the domestic game.
"Despite the fact that are lawyers prepared the corresponding documents, we will apply to neither UEFA, nor the state prosecutor," he said.
"But we have embarked on certain measures aimed at a clean-up of the domestic game. I hope they will be effective," he added, without giving details.
The Russian football referees' committee recognized Sukhin's performance in Chechnya as "professional."
The match was not the first in Grozny to have attracted allegations of corruption, with last year's match between Terek and Krylya Sovetov drawing accusations of match-fixing. The then-head of the Russian Football Union, current Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, said he was "ashamed" for the guests. Terek won the match 3-2.
Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitry Torbinsky told the Sovetski Sport paper on Wednesday that he as afraid his club would face "12 men" in Saturday's game against Terek in Grozny.
"We'll have to face our opponents and a biased referee," the Russian international said. "It's always like that in Grozny. Why, I don't know."
"You could say we'll have to play against 12 Terek players," he added.
In last year's corresponding fixture, which Terek won 2-1, referee Alexei Kovalev was beaten up after the match by unknown assailants. The incident led to Russian referees sending an open letter to the football authorities saying they would no longer work in Grozny if they were subject to "psychological and physical pressure."
Terek Grozny's president is Ramzan Kadyrov, a former militant fighter who is also the president of the volatile North Caucasus republic.
"We don't need those kinds of victories," the Chechen leader said after last year's controversial victory over Krilya. "For football, and sport in general, these kinds of victories, if they occur, are in fact a defeat."
The problem of match-fixing is not confined to the North Caucasus however, with Saturn defender Vadim Evseev, a former Russian international, admitting in an interview last week that he was offered money to throw a match last season.
MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
