Former striker of "Terek" (now "Akmat") and currently the president of Makhachkala "Legion," Shamil Laxiyalov shared his thoughts on the situation in Moscow's "Torpedo" team during an interview with Euro-Football.Ru correspondent Kirill Ivantsov. Euro-football.ru reported on this.
It should be noted that the "autoworkers" were expelled from the Russian Premier League and relegated to the Parimatch League, being accused of organizing fake games. According to Shamil Laxiyalov, strange situations are occurring in Russian football.
It does not make sense to send a team accused of organizing fake games to that very league. This situation indicates that there should be no fake games in the Premier League, but they are being allowed in the First League.
For example, teams like "Shinnik" or "Rodina" have played against "Torpedo." Now in the new season, they have to play against "Torpedo" again, even though this team has been accused of influencing game results.
In Laxiyalov's opinion, this is an incorrect decision. "Torpedo" should have been stripped of its professional status and sent to amateur football.
Then they would need to rise to professional leagues starting from the lowest level. This way, it would be possible to prevent fake games and cleanse Russian football from corruption.
Laxiyalov also expressed his views on the inclusion of the "Orenburg" team in the Premier League not based on sports criteria, but for other reasons. In his opinion, who should have replaced "Torpedo" in the Premier League?
It would have been preferable for no one to be admitted in place of this club. Keeping 15 teams in the Premier League would be the fairest and most correct decision.
Of course, this would have resulted in significant financial and reputational losses for the Russian Football Union and the Premier League, but legality, fairness, and sports principles have a high value. To preserve these virtues, the Russian Football Union and the Premier League needed to give up something.
In the first round of the new season, "Orenburg" will play against CSKA in the Premier League, while in the first round of the Parimatch League, Moscow "Torpedo" will compete against "Chelyabinsk."
