Russian Premier league referees are biased in favor of Moscow teams, former CSKA Moscow defensive midfielder Deividas Semberas said Sunday.
Semberas, 33, has been a fixture in Russian football since 1998, playing for Dynamo Moscow and CSKA for 14 years before joining newly promoted Alania in July after new arrival Pontus Wernbloom displaced him from the CSKA first team.
"I think all the referees are a little bit sympathetic towards Moscow teams, trying to help them. I'm not speaking without any experience, but as a former player of a club from the capital," Semberas said on the Alania website.
His remarks followed a controversial 2-2 draw between Alania and Lokomotiv Moscow on Saturday, which saw an Alania player sent off on 83 minutes and a penalty awarded to Lokomotiv deep into stoppage time, which Alania goalkeeper Dmitry Khomich saved.
"In the end the referees staged an extravaganza," Semberas said.
"I don't want to go into details, but Lokomotiv should have had a player sent off even earlier. It is unclear where the added six minutes came from. Plus a penalty in the sixth minute of the stoppage time."
A Lithuanian international since 1996, Semberas has 76 caps.
Alania won the Russian Premier League in 1995 and was promoted back to the top flight after a one-season absence after finishing second in the second tier in 2011-12.
Alania earned four points in the first four games of the Russian season and are ninth of 16 teams in the top flight.
