In the fall of 2018, Igor Fedotov mysteriously disappeared from the judiciary. His final match in his career – Khimki – Armavir (2: 3). The referee was removed from the next game due to a technical error: in Khimki Fedotov correctly awarded a penalty, but removed the player after, and not before, the blow.
Next – zero appointments and references in the media. And two years later – a bright return to Russian football. Now the former referee was analyzing the refereeing errors on Match TV, but during the Zenit game, CSKA lost the air. The official version is “technical reasons”. Unofficial – “on a call from above”.
Even Tina Kandelaki had to explain Fedotov’s scandalous departure – at that time Igor opened his YouTube channel, where he continued to post judges and openly talk about judging in Russia.
Sport24 editor Leonid Volotko met with Fedotov and found out:
- who called on Match TV and demanded to remove him from the air;
- who Igor worked before refereeing and how he launched a new business;
- what brought more money – work as an arbiter or barbershop;
- does Stanislav Sukhina affect judges;
- in what language did Wernbloom and the Hulk swear with the arbitrators;
- why Fedotov became a blogger and never becomes an inspector.
– You scheduled an interview in the barbershop. Why exactly here?
– This is one of my two salons. One here in Dolgoprudny, the second in Moscow. Three years ago, he himself would not have believed that this would happen. But I always wanted to launch something of my own – not to sit in one place.
– Have you tried to invest somewhere else?
– Thought to open the pub. With friends, they even started looking for a place. But he considered profitability, volatility … In general, one could still not fight back.
– Do your judges often get their hair cut?
– No, here the players come in. From LFL, here is the Northern League. I myself play and judge there.
– After the completion of a career, football players are heavily reorganized into ordinary life, where there is no longer a schedule, fees and understanding what to do next. How was it with you?
– Mr. Egorov cut me off so much that I suffered painlessly. So much so that the first year I did not watch football at all. It was necessary to manage – to discourage the desire to work, do what you love. But he succeeded!
That’s when I didn’t pass the standard for the first time because of an injury (I pulled the back one) – I was very worried. This is still under Andrei Dmitrievich [Будогосском] It was. When mistakes Valentin Valentinovich let [Иванова] – same. They count on you, you try, and when it does not work out, it hurts first of all to you. You think: “A man has trusted, but I let you down.” With Egorov – zero emotions. Just nothing.
– Is it all because of that mistake with Khimki and Armavir?
– What is it! If everyone is dismissed for such errors …
“But is she a formal reason?”
– They presented it so that I showed the card to the wrong one. But this is nonsense – I punished the right player. He simply violated the procedure: he did it after a penalty, and not before. That’s all. Armavir won, left the joint zone.
– What next?
– I called Yegorov and explained what happened. He wanted to meet – he did not pick up the phone. Fees begin – I’m not on the lists. No one says anything. I wrote a letter to Alaev and asked to explain the situation.
In the end, everyone is wrong. When the Yenisei shot the Akhmat penalty on a rolling ball when refereeing Meshkov and this goal counted, they all somehow hushed up. And now Moskalev and Levnikov have “served” eight months, but they were taken to the training camp. Silence struck me then. So I expressed everything that I think. And when you write to someone on Yegorov, he does not forgive this.
Moreover, in that situation he did not expect – he thought I would not say anything. I know that at the training camp, which I did not end up with, he told everyone how he allegedly talked with me for three hours, explained the situation and asked him to sit until the winter. Like, then everything will be fine. This is a complete lie! And one of the guys may have believed.
– When did you earn more – now or while working in the Premier League?
– When judged. For one match in the RPL paid 90 thousand rubles. Consider a maximum of four games per month. Still there is FNL – there are 35 thousand. Plus in the team of Vladislav [Безбородова] I traveled as a reserve referee to the Champions League and the Europa League. There, in one game, he received one and a half thousand euros. At that rate – about 105 thousand rubles.
– How did you become an arbiter?
– I always played football, played at KFK . And when he returned from the army, he simultaneously worked in a car service center. But I wanted to try myself in refereeing. I read the requirements, it seems nothing special. At 27, he enrolled in the school of Andrei Budogossky. Lost weight – it was 116 kg! And it began: I went to the training camp, they quickly noticed me and called me to the second division.
– Remember the day when you decided to do just that?
– As soon as I got to the first division, I realized that I could break through further. Combining work (by the time I moved to a shopping center – selling skiing and bicycles) became problematic: at first I asked for it, changed shifts. They let me go, but sooner or later it would end. I would simply be told: “Sorry, nothing at all.” And what to do? You have to go to the game.
I had to quit. I understood: I do not win or lose money yet. But a career is more important. There is no growth, but there, in refereeing, there is a prospect.
– Explain what the buzz? Referees are constantly pressed, every mistake is associated with bribes, and salaries are incommensurable with the salaries of players.
– That your work was satisfied. On the field you are the boss and the leader, your task is to show managerial qualities so as not to allow injustice, to judge difficult moments. When after the game both teams say “thank you, everything is super”, this is also a buzz. First of all, from a job well done. Because in Russia, a judge is not a job. This is a hobby.
– Why?
– And we do not have such a profession according to the documents. Workbooks of none of the judges [в РФС] do not lie. There is no social protection, except for a salary of 30 thousand rubles. If the injury – treat for your money. And your employment contract can be terminated at any time.
– Have you had any injuries?
– In the match CSKA – Torpedo (August 2, 2014, CSKA won 4: 1. – Sport24) tore the calf muscle. He was treated himself: did an MRI, injections, recovery procedures.
Now imagine: you haven’t been working all this time. And the appointments are coming. As soon as you recover, you are gradually returned to work. From the minor league. And it’s good if you don’t lie there, otherwise you will sit for two more weeks without appointments.
– Your worst match, when you yourself understood: swam?
– Dynamo – CSKA in 2014 (1: 0). In the first half I gave a fight, everything went fine. Then he appointed a penalty, as I call, lightweight. And after, on the contrary, did not appoint. In general, everything is bad. Then he was very worried.
– Do you have your own way, how to avoid depression after such games?
– Ideally, go to the cottage and not read anything. And after a couple of days, sit down, review the game and understand why it happened. But headers are everywhere – you won’t even get into the mail! You open Yandex, and there Giner quote about me.
The main thing is not to shut yourself up, to communicate. For example, with arbitrators who call and support. But this is one or two people, not more. The rest are happy that you were mistaken.
The worst thing about refereeing is suspense. Nobody tells you when they will appoint you next time. A form must be maintained. You train every day and don’t know how much is left: a week, a month.
– Do you often break into the judiciary?
– With the permission of the delegate and inspector, everyone can enter the judges’ office. But not to clarify the relationship, but to clarify some points. Or thank you. In the subtribe there are cameras everywhere, everything is written. In Grozny, one day, either the Minister of Sports or someone else made a noise – I honestly don’t remember. “Terek” lost to “Volga” 1: 3, but everything is clean there – there could be no questions for me. I calmly explained everything to him, and the delegate indicated in the report who approached me and in what form he was contacting. So it’s especially not to go for a walk – everything is fixed.
– Is this often in the Caucasus?
– On the contrary, the only case. And then I was just starting – maybe they thought, you can put pressure on the young. And so I have judged in the Caucasus many times. Ingushetia, Mineral waters, Nalchik, Makhachkala, Grozny – everything is calm. I put on the referee’s shirt – go to work, you are afraid – finish.
– Lapochkin and Kazartsev called Oleg Ivanov the most impudent player with whom it is impossible for judges to cope. Do you agree?
“I never had a problem with him.” Periodically intersected in the arena of CSKA: Oleg had a son playing there, and I trained. Plus, he lives next to me, in Khimki.
Oleg is an absolutely normal and adequate guy. It’s just that when you are folded, and the judge does not whistle, anyone will boil. This is normal and understandable. It’s not normal for me to do what Wernbloom did on the field.
“Why wasn’t he removed for talking?”
“Do you understand Swedish?” Legionnaires are cunning: the same Portuguese begin to scream in broken English, and then gradually switch to their native language. I will never forget how Carvalho deleted. CSKA judged – Dynamo in the youth championship, he played there. Got yellow, fouled again and boiled on me, waved his hands. And I was just starting out, young and hot. I give him a second card: “Free.”
After the game Giner comes in: “Igor Alexandrovich, have you known Portuguese for a long time?” There was a pause. Giner continued: “Carvalho told me now that he remembered his mother, misses her. Why was he kicked out? Do not understand the language – do not delete. “
– You did not send players in response?
– This is out of the question. The cameras are taking you, plus you need to understand that everyone is wound up and you will make the insults even worse. I usually used a gesture: waved a palm. For the players, this is the most annoying! They are waiting for a response, provoke. Or like I had with Rubin’s Wakaso. I looked at him for about five seconds – and he ran away. Why should I talk to him?
– The three most hot-tempered players in your career?
– Glushakov, Chorluka, Ozdoev. But Magomed needs an approach: you need to talk to him. As with Ivanov, by the way. “There was a free kick there,” it doesn’t work like that, it’s important to build communication. Explain why you made such a decision. And sometimes regret: “Does it hurt? Call a doctor? ” Although you understand that there is nothing to worry about.
There are reverse cases when you need to cram in response. And then they shouted to me: “Yes, you do not know how to judge.” I answered: “And you – to play.” They think that we do not know how the players are located, where are the edges, who, by what principle, goes on the attack. And I studied all this in order to shift correctly depending on their movement. And he understood who could be allowed the dangerous tackle (because he was not a dirty football player and always tried to play the ball), but who couldn’t.
For example, what did Barinov do in the match against Rostov: when the score was 3: 1, he slowed down, waited for Norman, who ran to the ball, and hit on the neck. I wonder what Vilkov told him when he gave the yellow one. “Go apologize?” And why is it not a red card for VAR? Oh yes, because the system does not turn on, as this is not an “obvious and obvious moment.” So the BAP protocol says. But for me this is both a clear and obvious episode. And even incredible.
– Which of the players is the easiest with?
– Very comfortable with Oleg Ivanov and Dziuba. Artyom even called everyone on the field igryoshkami and coaches. Oddly enough, it was easy with the Hulk.
– He does not know the language.
– When he needed to, he spoke English. And as soon as he did something, he switched to Portuguese. By the way, Smolnikov and Shatov are nice guys. I remember them long before the Zenith. The Bulgarians from Perm are also cool, although the people are usually quick-tempered.
– Is it difficult with coaches who press judges? Turbine recently removed Semin.
– Firstly, yellow cards do not work with coaches. This must be understood for a long time. They only take away the functionality of the reserve arbiter. Its task is not only to lift the plates, but to control two technical zones.
Well, talk to your coach, explain. From the fact that you silently show him the card, the situation will not change. I deleted coaches only after outright rudeness. By the way, Yuri Palych in my memory has never offended judges. “What are you whistling there?” Can’t you see what? ” – such phrases sounded. But rudeness is not.
In the same Lokomotiv they competently did, appointing Sukhin. See who first calms Semin? Stanislav! This is the exemplary work of the team leader.
– Many believe that they took Sukhina to work with the judges: he meets them, runs out to them during the matches, prompts.
– He doesn’t run out anywhere, but communicates, like everyone else, only after matches. Goes into the referee and the maximum that can say: “Guys, 17th, 50th and such and such a minute. Take a look. Good luck and goodbye. ” All!
And about some kind of influence and work with the judges there … Here’s how you imagine it: for the team leader to go up to the judge and suggest: “Vasya, let’s write the game today”? Why should the arbiter, if he already has any mistake can cross out his career? Sukhina himself judged and understands all this. In general, nonsense.
– With players and coaches it’s clear. When the judge offends the judge – does it bother you?
“It didn’t hurt me.” It so happened that I generally had positive meetings with the fans: on the train, I somehow had a great conversation with the Wings fans. And in St. Petersburg, the taxi driver didn’t even take money from me – he simply wished good luck. And the guy is not local, he came from Samara. This is, by the way, why love the work of judges. For such things!
And everyone has mistakes. Only someone more often. As with Yegorov: well, Vilkov swam with Zenit and CSKA, so do not appoint him for the next round in Orenburg. Hide is better. No – they sent, and he didn’t put two more penalties. Well what is it?
– “BUSINESS Online” wrote: under Yegorov, judges close to him worked at the matches. They really were?
– There were and are. And they will, because Kaloshin (Project Manager for the implementation of BAP. – Sport24) stayed. When leadership changes, a new headquarters arrives. Kaloshin was under Levnikov, Ivanov, Rosetti, Budogossky, Egorov. Now Kashshai has come, and Kaloshin will tell him: this judge is good, but this one is not very.
Therefore, Lapochkin in the game “Akhmat” – “Rostov” did not show three yellow cards and one red, but judged further. Because he is a man of Yegorov. Like Vilkov, who lived with him for eight years in the same room at the training camp. Sacks yet. And all the rest are in the backyard.
– Khusainov told how in the 99th he was offered 50 thousand dollars for the victory of CSKA over Spartak. Is there such a thing now?
– Of course not. Once again: what is the motivation for the judge? Take the money and end your career? Who will do this? And why? All have normal salaries.
Now all this is not there, everything is under control. Want an example? After the Sochi and Orenburg match, in which I criticized the refereeing on my channel, I wrote to Tikhon Kalugin, who was an assistant in that game: “I recommend that you better shut up.” I told about this, and a day later they called me from the RFU: “Igor Alexandrovich, the department for contractual matches is worrying. Are you threatened? Send a screenshot. “
Of course, I did not accept this threat. Well, maybe Tikhon Kalugin got drunk. Or are they with Turbin (The main referee of the match Sochi – Orenburg. – Sport24) on a rock-paper-scissors argued who would call me. As a result, it turned out that Tikhon Kalugin flicked his brain. You need to control yourself. Something hurt you or didn’t like you – don’t read, don’t look. Does not work? Well, now the contractual matches department is interested in you.
– Have you ever thought that the teams are playing a match?
– On the field you will never understand. There’s simply no time to think about it — to do our job. And so the head breaks: how to keep up with everything? It happens that after you open the newspaper and read: “A strange match.” As with Orenburg recently it was: Sochi burned down – suddenly they ran in with Spartak. Thinking about it. But this is after, during the match you don’t notice such things.
– You talked about injuries and standards. Do referees run more players per game?
– I had 12 to 14 kilometers. When you keep up with the game and do not lag behind anywhere, you experience a buzz. Valentin Valentinovich [Иванов] taught to always be as close to the episode as possible. Because the first thing players do after a violation is to look for the referee. If he is near, fewer questions. So the judge saw everything.
– After leaving Match TV, you launched your YouTube channel. The goal is to make money or just find a site where there is no censorship?
“They paid me to Match TV, but that wasn’t what I came for.” Initially, the desire was to convey to the people the judicial nuances, to analyze the moments. The main principle: I will not be silent, but I will say what I see. The management did not like it. So now I’m talking about refereeing on YouTube. If advertisers appear, offer money – I will not refuse. There will be no monetization – it’s okay, I’ll continue to record video. Because of them, I’ll definitely not close the channel.
– You said that you left Match TV after the words: “Azmuna wasn’t shown a red card in the match against CSKA.” Find out who called the channel and demanded to remove you from the air?
– Not. А зачем? Если люди сами не хотят мне говорить, что же я буду клянчить информацию. Все, что мне сказали: «На второй тайм мы тебя закрываем». И редактор показал: да, ничего не будет. Да, кто-то позвонил. И цепочка дальнейших событий мою версию подтверждает.
— Расскажите.
— Смотрите, из Питера я вернулся в Москву. А в 10 утра на «Матч ТВ» уже была запись с участием Калошина по игре «Зенит» — ЦСКА. Но она не планировалась — разбор должен был быть у меня в программе «8-16». Оказалось, самые важные моменты там даже не показали. Фол Азмуна, желтая Облякову и отсутствие предупреждения у Дзюбы — ничего не было.
Как я понимаю, Калошин позвонил Егорову (Дюкову он набрать не может). А Егоров — Алаеву. Или напрямую Дюкову. Все это под предлогом, что я якобы выступаю против ВАР. Хотя я за.
Плюс так как они знали, что у меня будет разбор в «8-16», то опередили и записались утром. Потому что вечером я приехал на «8-16», где мне сказали: «Мы по «Зениту» с ЦСКА разбирать не будем». Я ответил, что в таком случае я вообще записываться не буду. Развернулся и уехал.
После этого я должен был работать на матче «Зенит» — «Спартак». Но меня туда не взяли. Пригласили на разбор «Локомотива» и «Краснодара», отборочных матчей. И все. После нового года позвонил редактору — мне сообщили, что судейской рубрики больше не будет.
— Главная претензия к судьям прямо сейчас — отсутствие единой трактовки. За один и тот же фол в одном матче дают пенальти, в следующем нет. Понимаете, почему так происходит?
— Конечно. Потому что на сборах лекции читает Калошин. Но кто такой Калошин? Человек за всю жизнь две игры отсудил помощником. Да и то про это уже все забыли, как страшный сон. И что он может рассказать Безбородову или Карасеву? Они ему — могут.
Поэтому главный совет Кашшаи: пусть возьмет персонального переводчика с венгерского. Чтобы переводил не Калошин. Плюс нужно каждую неделю проводить брифинги и объяснять моменты. Уж как бы я ни относился к Егорову, но он каждый вторник собирал журналистов. Это — хорошо. Правда, то что он там говорил — ни о чем. Тем же самым занялся Кашшаи. Говорит, рука Исмаэла — не пенальти, потому что «даже с 30 повторов непонятно». А я почему-то посмотрел один раз и все понял.
— Вы рассказали про сообщение от Тихона Калугина. Как к вашему каналу относятся другие судьи?
— Кто-то нормально. Большинство если не ненавидит, то считает предателем. Но запомните: среди судей нет друзей. В любви и верности я никому, кроме жены, не клялся. Никакого судейского кодекса тоже не существует. А то говорят, не принято обсуждать работу коллег. Но инспекторы же обсуждают работу действующих арбитров. И даже оценки им ставят. А они ведь тоже бывшие рефери! Ничего страшного, привыкнут. Не было раньше Игоря Федотова. Теперь будет.
— Представьте, если бы такой же канал кто-то создал, когда вы работали.
— В мое время была программа «Свисток» — я же не жаловался. Хотя у нее изначально неправильный формат. Батурин не судил, а в качестве экспертов приглашал инспекторов.
Однажды к нему пришел Баскаков, который был инспектором в моем матче, «Краснодар» — «Рубин». Мы на разборе той игры обсуждали эпизод с удалением: все высказались и решили, что я прав и это не красная карточка. Баскаков подтвердил: «Да, согласен». Разошлись, а на ужине ему позвонил Батурин: «Юра, там все-таки было удаление». Мне поменяли оценку, и в «Свистке» Баскаков меня разнес. Я поднял скандал, дошло до Валентина Валентиновича. Спрашивал: почему инспектор ставит оценки по какому-то звонку от Владислава Батурина? Это нормально?
Поэтому я инспектором никогда не хотел быть. Они бедные и несчастные люди, которые не имеют своего мнения и слова. Я подгонять собственное мнение под чужое не смогу точно. А при Егорове это вообще был бы цирк. Знаю много случаев, когда инспекторам из департамента просили изменить оценку. Они отказывались и слышали: «Ваше мнение не совпадает с мнением департамента. Вам с нами не по пути».
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