MOSCOW, May 29 (R-Sport) - Controversial incidents at football matches in Chechnya are making the troubled Russian region unpopular in sporting circles, the head of the Russian Premier League suggested Wednesday.
Recent years have seen violent attacks on players at games in the Caucasus region, while Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is said to have accused an RPL referee Tuesday of asking for bribes.
The Russian FA demanded he provide further details of the alleged incident to allow an investigation.
“A lot is actually being done in Chechnya to develop sports and, in part, football. These incidents are another issue. They are not making the [Chechen] republic popular,” said RPL head Sergei Pryadkin.
Kadyrov earned local RPL club Terek Grozny fines and a one-game stadium ban after insulting a referee over the loudspeaker during a game and later confronting him in person.
On Tuesday, Kadyrov reportedly accused the same referee, Mikhail Vilkov, of demanding bribes before that fixture, a goalless draw with Rubin Kazan.
Pryadkin said the league had been in personal contact with Kadyrov and Terek management to prevent further disruption at games.
“We have been speaking a lot with the head of the republic and the president of the club,” he said. “Yes, there's a Caucasus mentality and hot-headedness.”
In 2011, FC Krasnodar striker Spartak Gogniev was left with broken ribs and concussion after he was beaten, allegedly by Chechen police and security staff, at a reserve team game against Terek. A local police investigation resulted in no arrests.
Last month, a local linesman at another Premier League reserve game in Chechnya punched and kicked an 18-year-old player, Ilya Krichmar. The linesman was banned from football for life.
On Tuesday, Kadyrov was quoted as suggesting both players had deserved their beatings for acting insultingly, noting that had he been the linesman, he could have killed Krichmar.
The Russian Cup final will be played Saturday in the Chechen capital Grozny between CSKA Moscow and Anzhi Makhachkala.
Premier League security director Alexander Meitin defended the decision to play the final there, saying the city’s Akhmad Arena was the safest stadium in the top flight.
