Tag Archives: Russia

Russian FA Dissolves Match-Fixing Council

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MOSCOW, December 19 (R-Sport) – The Russian FA has dissolved its committee against match-fixing, president Nikolai Tolstykh said Wednesday.
Match-fixing is still thought to go on in Russian football, but the committee has very little power and has failed to identify any fixed results since it came into being in October 2011.
“Undoubtedly, the aim of creating the committee was to fight against match-fixing,” Tolstykh said.

“An order has been signed by me to dissolve this organ.”
Tolstykh, who was elected to the post in September on promises to clean up the game, did not give a reason for the move.
Anzor Kavazashvili, the head of the match-fixing committee, had been very vocal in recent weeks on a case involving Anzhi Makhachkala.
It is not clear if the move is related to Kavazashvili in any way.
He told R-Sport last week that police could be called in to investigate claims of match-fixing in a game against Amkar Perm with over $13 million and a player’s life reportedly at stake.
Anzhi’s 2-1 win at Amkar Perm last month was assessed by the FA and pronounced clear of suspicion before reports emerged in the Russian media that a former Amkar player was among several people to place unusually large bets on Anzhi.
At the time, many bookmakers suspended betting on the game. More

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Russia set to spoil Poland party

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alan dzagoev russia smallHaving thrashed the Czech Republic in their opening game at Euro 2012, Russia look like a tough proposition for any team and it will be the job of co-hosts Poland to try and stop them in Warsaw on Tuesday (Poland 12/5, draw 9/4, Russia 5/4 Match Betting).

The competition got off to a lively start on Friday, with Poland impressing in the first half against the Greeks before allowing their opponents back into a game which saw two red cards.

The 1-1 draw will have been a disappointment to head coach Franciszek Smuda, who saw his side dominate periods of the game against Greece, before being undone by their own goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Having been at fault for the Greek goal, the Arsenal man saw red and was in great debt to substitute keeper Przemyslaw Tyton, who saved the resulting penalty to keep Poland’s Euro 2012 campaign very much alive.

Tyton looks set to start between the sticks against the Russians at the National Stadium in the absence of the suspended Szczesny.

In attack the Poles will once again be looking to striker Robert Lewandowski (5/1 first goalscorer), who has continued to be linked with a move to Premier League giants Manchester United.

The 23-year-old Borussia Dortmund star looked like a threat throughout the first half against the Greeks and really got the home fans cheering with the opening goal of the tournament.

Poland will certainly need the supporters to be a 12th man in this game against a very talented Russia side, who took apart the Czechs in their opening encounter.

The Russian’s looked extremely dangerous in attack especially their exciting talent Alan Dzagoev (7/1 first goalscorer), who could well turn out to be a star of this tournament, having bagged himself a brace on Friday night.

Andrey Arshavin, who was largely disappointing in the Premier League with Arsenal this season before making a loan move back to his homeland with Zenit St Petersburg, looked back in the form that made him such an attractive prospect for the north London outfit.

The Russian skipper looked dangerous against the Czech Republic and the Poles will have to keep tabs on the 31-year-old on Tuesday night.

Russia (11/1 Euro 2012 outright) would go a long way to securing top spot in their group and booking their place in the knockout stages of the tournament in Poland and the Ukraine with a victory over the co-hosts, before taking on the struggling Greeks.

This really is a must-win game for Poland if they want to stand a realistic chance of making the quarter-finals to most likely face the winners of Group D, which could well be France or England.

However, based on Russia’s opening performance and their recent free-scoring form, with a 3-0 win over Italy in their previous game, it’s hard to look past Arshavin leading his talented side to another victory.

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Russia target winning start

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On the opening day of the European Championship, one of the competition’s dark horses, Russia, will be looking to get off to a strong start with a win over the Czech Republic (Russia 11/10, draw 9/4, Czech Republic 14/5).

Friday’s encounter in Group A (10/1 to produce the tournament winner) should be an edgy encounter with neither side wanting to come away from the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw with nothing, in what is set to be a highly competitive group which also includes co-hosts Poland and Euro 2004 winners Greece.

Russia are sweating on the fitness of their first choice goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who is hoping to recover in time from a knee injury for the clash on Friday, with Vyacheslav Malafeev waiting in the wings as a replacement.

The Russians, under former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, have been on a decent run of late and will take plenty of confidence from their last outing when they took apart Italy to beat the Azzurri 3-0.

Led by playmaker Andrey Arshavin, Russia managed to reach the semi-finals of the competition four years ago and will be tough prospect for any team in the tournament this time around.

It’s the Czech Republic who are first up to take on Advocaat’s men and they will be hoping their standout players come to the fore in this summer.

The Czechs certainly have a strong spine to their side, with Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech set for a busy tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Cech was instrumental in helping the Blues win an elusive Champions League title this season and the 30-year-old will have to use that experience to help grind out results for the Czechs.

In the heart of midfield Tomas Rosicky will be an influential figure and expect plenty of the play to go through the Arsenal man, who has come on leaps and bounds this season at the Emirates to become an important player for the Gunners.

The 31-year-old has highlighted his club team-mate Arshavin as the major threat to his side for Friday’s encounter and believes his players will be looking to give the playmaker as little time as possible.

Rosicky will also be hoping to link up with former Liverpool striker Milan Baros (15/2 first goalscorer), who can still be a threat at this level and will hope to cause the Russian defence plenty of problems at the Municipal Stadium.

It’s a very hard opening game for the Czech Republic, who will be up against it against a Russian side who will be brimming with confidence following that comprehensive win against the Italians.

Russia should come out the stronger of the two teams and claim the three points in this encounter, but expect a tightly fought contest between two sides who have a good chance of finishing first and second in this competitive group (9/2 Group A highest scoring group).

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Russia dark horses at Euros

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With Group A (10/1 to produce the Euro 2012 winner) at the European Championships including the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Russia, any two of these four teams could qualify for the all-important knockout stages of the major tournament.

However, the latest crop of players coming out of Russia (20/1 – Euro 2012 Outright) these days look like they could form a side that may do well in Poland and Ukraine.

The Russians under former Glasgow Rangers boss Dick Advocaat have enjoyed a strong build up to the tournament with the side thumping Italy 3-0 in their last friendly on Friday.

Midfielder Roman Shirokov bagged himself a brace in the victory over the Azzurri and is just one of a number of exciting players at Zenit St Petersburg to be included in the Russian squad, who are captained by playmaker Andrey Arshavin.

This team are certainly one to look out for at the Euros and the big guns in the competition like Spain, Germany and Holland would do well not to underestimate Russia (4/9 – Group A Qualification) should they meet in the knockout stages.

Russia should top Group A but the second qualification spot is really up for grabs for any of the three remaining teams who can take their chances.

Poland, as a host nation of the tournament, will be hoping partisan support raises their performances in what will be a tough test for manager Franciszek Smuda and his men.

A 4-0 victory over European minnows Andorra last week was clearly arranged to boost confidence in the Polish ranks ahead of their tournament opener against Greece on Friday.

Poland (8/11 – Group A Qualification) don’t have many stand-out names in their ranks but you can guarantee they will be well organised by Smuda and will be hard to break down on home soil.

It would be great for the competition if the co-hosts could make it through but they don’t seem to have an abundance of quality and it may well be a short tournament for the White and Reds.

Greece (6/4 – Group A Qualification) will be looking to give their supporters something to cheer about and put a smile on the face of a nation going through more than enough troubles at the moment.

The Greeks pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history in 2004 when they beat Portugal in the final to claim the European crown.

Manager Fernando Santos will have been pleased with the draw, as they avoided some of the real powerhouse of European football. The Mexican tactician saw his side scrape past Armenia 1-0 last weekend but the performance was not all that inspiring.

Considering the current crop of players and their recent form, Greek fans should not hold their breath for a repeat of 2004.

The Czech Republic (5/4 – Group A Qualification) are the only team in Group A to go into the Euros on the back of a defeat following their 2-1 loss to Hungary on Friday.

There are a few big names in the squad with Chelsea shot-stopper Petr Cech set to use his Champions League-winning experience this season and take that “backs against the wall” mentality that served the Blues so well into the Euros.

Former Liverpool striker Milan Baros and Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky are set to be threats and the Czechs might just edge out the others to join Russia in the knockout stages.

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England lose out to Russia

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Despite having the strongest bid and putting together the best presentation, England (9/1 to win Euro 2012) have lost out to Russia in the bid to host the 2018 World Cup – and the strength of the Premier League could be the reason why we missed out!

For the size of the country, England has the best stadia and infrastructure to host such a major event but FIFA, in their wisdom, looked elsewhere.

The world governing body suggest they want the hosts to leave a legacy and with Russia (1/3 to win Euro 2012 Qualifying Group B) having to build a dozen new stadiums and transport links, they got the nod.

Sections of the media suggest Chelsea (11/8f to win 2010-11 Premier League) owner Roman Abramovich had a big part to play in the Russian success and his reception at Premier League grounds may now be rather frosty!

England must now fear that they will never again host the world’s biggest football event – can we now even be bothered to bid for it when it’s Europe’s turn again in, probably, 2034?

The frustration is only increased by the comments of Sepp Blatter, who described the presentation as “outstanding” and described England as the “football motherland”.

The sceptics have already questioned whether money talks and the decision to give Qatar the 2022 tournament will only heighten their beliefs.

As for England, we must console ourselves with the fact that we will host the Olympics in two years and there’s also the Champions League final (England 11/8 Winning Nation) at Wembley next May.

We should also stand proud and say we have the best and most exciting league in the world, with the biggest crowds and the most passionate fans – it still hurts though!

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