Lovchev called the Smolov incident a provocation

Former Soviet national team and Moscow "Spartak" football club player Yevgeniy Lovchev viewed the incident involving Fedor Smolov that occurred in May at a café in the Podmoskovye region with understanding. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.

To prevent the incident from becoming public, the victims demanded a large sum of money from Smolov. According to Lovchev, Smolov had not encountered such situations before and is regarded as an ordinary person.

Yes, he acted incorrectly, but there was a provocation here. Smolov acknowledged his mistake.

Last season, Fedor Smolov became the Russian champion with the "Krasnodar" team. The 35-year-old forward played in 24 matches during the season, scoring 4 goals and providing 4 assists.

He left the team as a free agent.