Rubin Midfielder Ruslan Bezrukov Mocks “Money” from Krasnodar: Scandal Erupts

Rubin midfielder Ruslan Bezrukov, celebrating after the victory over Zenit, mocked “money” from Krasnodar and found himself at the center of a scandal. Fontanka’s sports section is about where there are problems with a sense of humor.

what happened

“Krasnodar, we are waiting for money on the card,” Rubin midfielder Ruslan Bezrukov said on Match TV after the game.

It was clear to everyone that this was a joke. As noted in football circles, Ruslan Bezrukov is one of the main media football players in the Kazan team, who knows how to speak and does not get away with ordinary expressions or two in the mixed field. The club even invited him as a representative at the upcoming Games in Kazan, where he spoke to journalists for almost half an hour with various jokes. But serious men in ties decided that Russian football was no place for jokes, and everything started to happen.

What happened next

The RFU Ethics Committee was the first to respond.

“Regardless of the context and form in which Rubin footballer Ruslan Bezrukov’s statement was made, the financial promotion of an opponent by a third party is a serious breach of the principle of fair play and the rules of ethics of the RFU,” said service the RFU said.

They recalled that earlier, for attempting such actions, the Russian Football Union dismissed the deputy general director of FC “Urozhay” Dmitry Gradilenko for a year, so that a Committee should The ethics of the RFU consider speculation “joke” on these subjects. A request requesting a legal assessment of Bezrukov’s action was sent to the committee by the General Secretary of the RFU and former General Director of Zenit Maxim Mitrofanov.

Even the President of the RFU Alexander Dyukov had to respond: “I like a good sense of humor, just like you. There are many topics for jokes. In this case, it was about having a financial impact on the outcome of the game, even though it was a joke. It is impossible. Therefore, the ethics committee will review the player’s statement. Let’s joke, I’m not against it, but let’s choose relevant topics,” he said in an interview with Match TV.

Who liked the joke?

Former Zenit football player Vladimir Bystrov noted that Bezrukov’s interview after the game was going to be original and fun.

“The people who stirred up the hype have little minds! Because this is a completely harmless comment from a person who had just defeated the head of the Russian tournament and understood that Rubin was weaker. And only through dedication and hundred percent effort they managed to achieve results. The fact that he came up in good spirits and responded cheerfully seemed interesting. And the fact that they made a fuss out of here… Radimov called them in some way already…” Bystrov told Sport-Express.

“Perhaps, in a tight race, even joking about money is not very appropriate, but this is certainly not a reason to drag a man to the ethics committee. So we are not far from banning laughter. I can’t even imagine what the committee is going to present to him. Are you in a good mood after the victory? – wrote reporter Timur Zhuravel in his Telegram channel.

Even comedian Garik Kharlamov embraced football humor.

“The main thing is that Krasnodar, when sending money to Bezrukov, does not confuse what Bezrukov is specifically. Because, I’m afraid, Sergei will not understand why the money came. They came for “Yesenin”, they came for “Russian Soul”, they came for “Beryozki”. What about football? For a type of football? – said actor Garik Kharlamov on social networks.

What threatens Bezrukov?

The worst is a ban for one or more games. Bezrukov has already admitted that he would not like to lose games because of a bad joke.

“I really didn’t expect such a response. Even now I worry. I said this with a smile. I wanted to brighten the night, I joked. I didn’t expect there to be such a concern. I saw Kharlamov’s comments. I always wanted to be a little more famous than other Bezrukov. I have good humor coaches: Rashid Rakhimov, Leonid Slutsky. We trained him,” he noted on the YouTube channel “Comment.Show.”

However, on April 27, Match TV, continuing to promote the topic, turned for comments to a member of the working group on the development of legislation in the field of physical culture and sports of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation, Sergei Alekseev, and strongly stated that Bezrukov’s statement could be considered within the framework of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

“The situation with Rubin football player Ruslan Bezrukov can be considered under Article 184 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – illegally influencing the outcome of an official sports competition or a spectacular commercial competition,” said Sergei Alekseev.

That’s when the joke went too far.

Artyom Kuzmin, Fontanka.ru