It looks like it's time to put an end to the scandalous epic with a single football telepool. At least, this is prompted by the draft law No. 7719 “On introducing changes to the Law of Ukraine “On physical culture and sports”, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada last Tuesday, September 6, to this end.
However, only the President, for whose signature the document was sent, can put an end to it.
It would be naive to think that the bill will cause unanimity in the expert community and the domestic media, but the fact that 317 deputies voted for it (a constitutional majority!), including UAF vice-presidents Alexander Gerega and Maxim Efimov, testifies to a lot. As well as the fact that not a single vote was cast against or abstained (out of 34 who did not vote).
It is clear that the media, which had previously competed with each other in defending their positions, once again brought the topic of the TV pool to the front pages. And then, on top of everything, there was a decision of the Pechersky District Court of the capital to ban the election of the leadership of the UAF at the next congress. Passions were still burning, and domestic plenipotentiaries in European cups threw firewood into the flames. But first things first.
Paid or available?
On the prehistory of the next conflict around a single football telepool, we dwelled in some detail in the media review for the previous week. But since the topic has not died, we once again focus on the key points of this discourse.
On August 15, the official website of the UPL announced that the League had signed a contract for television broadcasting of all 240 matches of the starting championship of Ukraine with the international company Setanta.
Setanta Sports is an Irish company. So she officially positions herself. And its interests on Ukrainian territory are represented by a certain branch. Setanta won a tender from a competitor by one wicket, offering $16.2 million for the purchase of rights over three seasons, while each club will receive about $95,000 for the first championship. As is customary in commerce, the organizers of the competitions should also receive their rollback - that is, the UPL, whose powers were transferred to the UAF at one time.
At the same time, the latter relies on Article 47 of its Charter: “In between the legislation and statutory documents, the UAF, on the basis of an exclusive Volodymyr’s and victorious right, is bound by national strife, as if it organizes it to be carried out on a permanent basis until renewed, delegated by the state.
Under the rights, the sum of the main and non-main rights of intellectual power, including, but not interspersed, the rights to television broadcasting, broadcasting, rebroadcasting, recording (fixing) and organizing the organization of national traffic is understood.
The UAF, according to the decision of the Vikonavchy Committee, may win the rights of the order established by law.”
Most clubs are quite satisfied with this statement of the question. Their representatives at the League meeting voted for Setanta's proposal. Most, but not all. Five refuseniks were found - Dynamo, Dnepr-1, Zarya, Rukh and Metalist who joined them. And there is more than one reason for refusal.
“I didn’t transfer the rights to anyone,” the president of Dynamo Kyiv, Igor Surkis, emotionally reacted. - And if you think that you can take them away just like that, then there are song authorities, like you can prove that you can’t work. At the right time in Spain, there were talks about the transfer of the rights to television broadcasts by the clubs. The only good luck of the clubs allowed us to create a single telepool!
We have a three-term contract from "2+2". We are ready to pay for penalties, to break up to please and create a good TV pool. We didn’t mention anything about financial warehouses. We have less than one mind - football can only be evidenced on infamously accessible channels! Not in six years, not in ten, not in mining, but in a maximum of 15 years of thinness” (Fanday.net, 20.08.22).
It is important to remember here that Setanta is a commercial channel, and each consumer of the picture has to pay for watching it. From this follows the following - availability. According to information published in the media, about three and a half million viewers watched the August duel between the people of Kiev and the Austrian "Sturm" on the "2 + 2" channel - broadcast with a 15-minute delay. Whereas on the paid "Setant" there are only 350 thousand live. Yes, Dynamo only has so many subscribers on its You Tube channel!
“We absolutely legally have the rights to broadcast the home matches of Dynamo, Dnipro-1, Zori, Metalista and Rukh,” Stepan Shcherbachev, head of the 1+1 Media Sports Projects Department, said. - Aje diemo on the basis of the terms of contracts. Acts of them were signed as early as 2017-2018 on the occasion of the 10th term.
The designated clubs handed over the TV rights to the 1+1 Media group absolutely free of charge. Tsey krok s zhny side a lot of wisdom. For clubs, it is very important to be close to your audience at once, save. Today, the need is not to distort such content, but instead to allow more peeps to marvel at yoga. And even up to 40 hundred Ukrainians have spent surcharges, fluffy textiles in the war, and far from everyone can afford to bring the minimum amount of money to pay” (Footballhub.com.ua, 06.09.22).
Is it weak to agree?
In general, the position of the five refuseniks looked quite convincing. But the League also had its own position. Or rather, the pose. Even in the message about the contract with Setanta on the website of the UPL, they did not forget to recall that the decision was voted for by the majority of the participants, and according to the Charter of the organization, it is mandatory for everyone.
Then the executive director Dikiy said that since 2019 the UAF has owned the rights to broadcast, which transferred them to the organizer of the competition - the UPL. And clubs can regain their rights only by decision of the Executive Committee of the Association.
Here it is absolutely reasonable to once again recall the words of the executive director of Dnepr-1, Andriy Rusol: “In my eyes, I saw the transformation of the regulations of the UPL in the way that the organization tried to acquire the rights to the TV pool and take control over the adoption of decisions.
In 2018, the decree on the telepool sounded like an offensive rank - clubs CAN transfer their rights to the broadcaster chimovnik. Then, through the river, two regulations were changed and they said that the clubs already ZOBOV'YAZANI transfer their rights.
And in 2022, a clause appeared in the regulations about sanctions for clubs, so that you voluntarily do not transfer your rights to the UPL. For many years, in my eyes, this regulation has changed. I don’t know who was the initiator of these changes, but I wonder what strategy I have in order to allow the clubs to be able to exercise their rights” (Ua.tribuna.com, 09/01/22).
By the way, about sanctions. The disciplinary rules of the FTC were tightened in advance and can only be called draconian. Now, immediately for violating the Regulations, the club can be fined 250,000 hryvnias, from the second time – half a million, and in case of the third violation, lose points.
However, this did not frighten those who disobeyed. And immediately, the Setanta film crews were not admitted to the three opening matches of the championship (I wonder who they consisted of and whose equipment they intended to use?). Complaints were poured from the translator to the UPL, which threatened to transfer the cases to the FTC. In response, broadcasts on club YouTube platforms were blocked.
At the same time, in a comment to Fanday.net, Setanta Sports stated that it did not intend to leave the situation unanswered: “Before winning the application for participation in the tender, we carefully studied Ukrainian legislation, including laws on the media and sports. A number of international consultants were involved in the process. Now a single pool has been created, and no one has the right to break the contract. Any actions against a single telepool will be prosecuted. Any violations, whether by clubs or individual media groups, will not go unanswered” (24.08.22).
However, already on the first day of autumn, the Pechersk Court of Kyiv issued two rulings by which the UAF and the UPL were prohibited from obstructing the broadcasts of Dynamo, Dnipro-1, Zorya, Metalist and Rukh on YouTube platforms, as well as using any financial and sports sanctions against clubs that intend to independently broadcast their home matches.
“There is no need to look for undercurrents,” Stanislav Oganov, general director of Zorya, commented on the ongoing events. — It was important to find a compromise so that the championship could be held normally. The presidents of all Ukrainian clubs need to say “thank you” for continuing to invest in football in this difficult time. The easiest way is to close the club. What's next?
But we want our football to develop so that fans can watch the matches of their favorite teams. And we are not against a compromise that would help solve the problem ”(Fanday.net, 09/05/22).
“If people cannot come to an agreement, then, of course, everything will be decided in the courts,” noted well-known journalist Igor Tsyganyk, not without regret. “It’s a pity that it has come to this. I think it was still possible to agree or at least try to do it. I am sure that some acceptable options could be found” (Ua.tribuna.com, 09/06/22).
Unfortunately, it turned out that there was no one to listen to the positions of the parties in a face-to-face conversation, try to smooth out sharp corners, look each other in the eye and look for compromises. The UAF continued to remain silent, Dykoy’s department was accumulating threats of sanctions, and Setanta was waiting for clear decisions from the Premier League.
Not surprisingly, the flowers quickly turned into berries. Having failed to find mutual understanding, being under pressure, having stumbled upon a blank wall of voluntarism, the presidents of clubs that did not support participation in the dubious telepool decided to seek protection at a different level. And we turned to the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada with a request to clarify the concepts of "sporting competition" and "sporting event", as well as the delimitation of the status of persons responsible for their holding.
As a result, the appeal led to the registration of a draft law on amending the Law of Ukraine "On Physical Culture and Sports". And the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports, an honorary member of UEFA Grigory Surkis, speaking to colleagues, noted:
“Being a Vice President and a member of the UEFA Vision Committee, I, having taken an active part in the negotiations with the national associations, took an active part in the negotiations with the national associations, and somehow got the rights to show the matches of my favorites. For two years, we held the so-called top tables, reconsolidating the efforts of 55 associations to create a single marketing and television pool. We gave specific numbers, made specific gains, and reached our goal in the bag. Everything was lost to the winners. I encourage you, the cebula is democratic and rozmov - without threats and ultimatums. This is how it happened with the club tournaments - the League of Champions and the League of Europe.
Somehow, everything that is worth holding matches, then intellectual authority is left behind the club, and you can win yourself - delegate your rights to someone. Apply? In Greece, the clubs exercise their rights independently, the Portuguese grandees - Porto, Benfica, Sporting - just the same. In Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid were also encouraged to enter the TV pool for a long time, until they took off worthy propositions ”(Komsport.rada.gov.ua, 01.09.22).
The law is up-to-date and effective
On the same day, August 31, bill No. 7719 was registered. Its co-authors were the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports Andrey Kozhemyakin, as well as a group of deputies from different factions. Moreover, the committee recommended that it be adopted as a basis - in the first reading.
In turn, Andriy Kozhemyakin, in a commentary to the Rada channel, explained the initiative: “It’s obvious, you know, two months ago, the conflict in Ukrainian football between the federation and the presidents of the top clubs and the broadcasting of matches in the first place in Ukraine was caused. Vinnyk through those who do not have a clear separation, who are such a sporting approach and who are such a sportsmanship. It is necessary for the clubs to be able to broadcast football. Before speech, football today without peeps. For whom wine? Obviously, in the first line for the Evil forces of Ukraine, for the boys, fans, who went to fight” (Ua.tribuna.com, 06.09.22).
At the plenary meeting held on September 6, the adoption of the bill took a matter of minutes - it was adopted immediately and in general. 317 votes "for" - such unanimity of people's deputies has not been for a long time on the issue that is not the most relevant today.
The key point of the bill was the delimitation of the concepts of "sports event" and "sports event" and, as a result, the delimitation of powers and rights of their organizers.
“A sports club that, within the boundaries of sports facilities, conducts a sports entry and other organization, financial and other security of preparation and conduct is respected by the organizer of a sports entry,” the document says. It is up to the initiator of sports competitions to hold such competitions.
As for television rights, the wording is written as follows:
“The organizers of sports entries, which are held within the boundaries of sports entrances, can, at voluntary ambushes, transfer rights to the organizers of the entry, which have been appointed in the eighth paragraph of the statute, the way of laying down the contract on the minds, which has been agreed between the organizer of sports entries from that organization. Whether or not the exchange of rights of the organizers of sports entries is freely disposed of by the rights assigned in the eighth paragraph of the statute (including through the regulations for the transfer of other documents, such as are accepted and confirmed by the organizers of the hold) are not allowed.
Since we are talking about amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Physical Culture and Sports", the reference to part eight refers to Article 45 of the said law. At the same time, innovations lose their force if they contradict the regulations or statutory documents of international competitions.
As follows from the explanatory note, the adoption and implementation of the provisions of the draft law will provide an opportunity to resolve problematic issues regarding the determination of the status of organizers of sports events and competitions. And this means that, say, football clubs are not deprived of the opportunity to transfer the rights to broadcast their matches, but exclusively on a contractual basis, and not at the behest of the regulations and charters of higher organizations.
By and large, the bill, if not revolutionary, is very relevant and effective. And its first fruits were reported by the Football Hub portal, which published a message with the following content: “Live broadcasts on Football Hub - to be! YouTube figured out who owns the rights.
“YouTube has considered the appeal against the blocked video broadcast of the match of the first round between Zorya and Vorskla”. Recall that the UPL filed a complaint against this video. Like, the channel did not have the right to broadcast a football match due to the declaration by the Premier League of creating a single pool, which, in fact, does not exist.
YouTube considered the appeal for a long time, but in the end ruled in favor of Football Hub" (09/08/22). And he announced live broadcasts of three matches of the 4th round of the Ukrainian Championship at once with the participation of Rukh, Dnipro-1 and Dynamo.
In general, logic has triumphed over populism, a covert attempt to create a television football collective farm to please a certain group of people, but not fans, did not work.
Whom you don’t envy in this situation is Setante. In general, they got involved in not the most useless business, but they fell for the illusions drawn by the UPL. Surely they assured that they had everything under control and that there would be no obstacles in obtaining an exclusive. But the realities turned out to be harsher. Once again, breaking the naughty over the knee did not work. It was not possible to take it impudently and with threats.
Vyaneli "Leipzig" on a shovel
On Tuesday, September 6, Shakhtar Donetsk opened the European football autumn in Ukraine with an away match against Leipzig. To be honest, the prospects of Donetsk residents against the backdrop of events in our country did not look very bright. Due to Russian aggression, the team lost almost all legionnaires.
The only one left, the Burkinian Traore, is just getting back into shape after a severe injury. Two newcomers, Croatian Djurasek and Brazilian Lucas Taylor, are by and large dark horses for the team. And the whole of Shakhtar was presented as a dark horse in the Champions League. 15 performers left the team, seven new ones joined. Plus a new head coach, Igor Jovichevich, who did not smell the gunpowder of such battles.
Nevertheless, the Croatian radiated optimism at the pre-match press conference: “Surely, I can’t make it to the Champions League, but I compensate with divine motivation and adrenaline boost. At the same time, we are guilty of saving the balance between us, sob to grow with your mind and heart. Sob the team demonstrated garniy football at the debut match, de not zavzhd dosvid played a key role. Obviously, this is a factor of greatness, but some young football players do not think about the legacy - and you can be one of our trump cards" (Footboom.com, 09/05/22).
They played with their hearts. Although no one bet even a penny on Shakhtar. All-knowing bookmakers gave him the last place in the group, and on the victory at the Red Bull Arena they accepted bets with a coefficient of 12.0 (against 1.23 for the hosts). And this despite the fact that Leipzig started the season ugly, scoring only 5 points in five starting matches of the Bundesliga.
The victory of miners (4:1) looked all the sweeter.
“Perhaps, no one had checked such a clear win, even miraculously knew who they were against. Leipzig is a club with a reputation, which, on a budget, can enter the German Bundesliga up to a trio. The club is tighter, like, it is possible, timchasovo, to go through a small crisis. I scurried cym. However, they deserved such a result. I am writing as a team and I can say that I am the best coach in the world at once,” beamed Jovicevich (Footboom.com, 07.09.22).
FC Shakhtar director of football Dario Srna looked somewhat confused. "Honestly? Not expected. We are just building. This is a new team, a new Shakhtar. The young boys have worked. They have a future, but they need time. And I am glad to be part of this team at such a time. It's easy to be with a team at a good time. And in difficult times, we showed that we are one family. And this is the victory of the entire Ukrainian people” (Terrikon.com, 07.09.22).
It is clear that a completely different mood reigned in the camp of the Germans. Although Bulls mentor Domenico Tedesco tried to keep a good face on a bad game. Although his fate was sealed, he was fired the next day.
And the resource Sky.De did not miss the opportunity to prick him harder in parting: “After the match, Tedesco didn’t want to know that the team failed the game. Vin continued to praise, talking about those that Leipzig controlled the game and looking better for Shakhtar, who did not deserve a loss in such a match. There was a lot of words, but there was no good explanation of what happened. The Swede, Mudrik and Traore shocked Leipzig (Footboom.com, 07.09.22).
Domestic fans were also shocked. Why, the fans, even the bison of football journalism, did not hide their delight.
“Yes, it was a miracle. A miracle that overturned the total negativity of expectations and forecasts. A miracle that raised our conceit to new heights and put an end to any bad mood,” wrote Artem Frankov. - The team, which lost almost two sets of players due to the war, took out one of the strongest teams in Germany on a shovel. With all reservations, one of the strongest" (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 07.09.22).
At the same time, an authoritative author noted that Shakhtar had to endure. That the defense was skillfully built. That the miners, of course, were lucky, yes, like never before. And that Jovicevich tactically outplayed his opponent Tedesco.
Igor Linnik, editor-in-chief of the Football Club, also admired the victory: Shakhtar was a pleasant surprise. In this composition, the team really represents Ukraine, and for the entire Ukrainian football, its confident victory is extremely important. And it doesn’t matter at all that Shakhtar was partially helped by mistakes and rebounds by the Germans — the score on the scoreboard always speaks for itself” (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 07.09.22).
Linnik notes that Shakhtar's attempt to assemble one of the variations of the second squad of the Ukrainian national team under their banners is the best solution for him in the current situation. Yes, and the candidacy of a coach for solving just such a task, perhaps, was chosen correctly. Before returning to Ukraine, Croatian Jovicevich had a hand in the revival of Dynamo Zagreb, which now also does not shy away from anyone.
Well, it remains to wait for the continuation of the banquet...
Full confidence in Lucescu
It was not possible to wait for the continuation of the banquet two days later in the matches with the participation of Dynamo Kyiv and Dnipro-1. Dnipro in the Conference League expectedly lost to the group favorite — the Dutch AZ (0:1), and the people of Kiev in the Europa League in the last minutes lost a draw in the duel with the Turkish Fenerbahce (1:2).
Before the meeting in Istanbul, Mircea Lucescu's wards faced serious personnel problems. Besedin and Vanat were added to the previously injured Popov and Neshcheret, and Zabarny was struck down by a stomach infection. In addition, I had to get to the shores of the Bosphorus in transit through Chisinau, and I had to spend extra time on the road.
In addition, the team was dominated by a series of defeats and an unsuccessful start in the national championship. Nevertheless, Mircea Lucescu was determined: “Yes, we had a series of negative results. In the Premier League matches, we had a total advantage over our rivals, but we made mistakes in defense and conceded very simple goals. This happens because the players are constantly focused on the situation in the country, thinking about the safety of their families. But we have good players, so we hope to achieve a positive result in the Europa League" (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 07.08.22).
The Portuguese mentor of the Canaries Jorge Jesus, no doubt, also counted on a good result. And also for revenge for the insulting, in his opinion, July loss to the people of Kiev in the Champions League qualification. And although he tried to hide his desire, the very game of his wards, the behavior of the coach during and after the match, the emotions of the players and fans, testified to the opposite. It was not for nothing that Lucescu, at the post-match press conference, called the fight not football, but bullfighting.
Since the summer rendezvous, Fenerbahce has noticeably strengthened by inviting a number of experienced and well-known footballers in Europe. The game of the team has also stabilized. However, she did not show serious trump cards to Dynamo and realized her playing advantage thanks to two standards.
In general, it is difficult to analyze such a game, because, as Lucescu put it, it was a bullfight. Mircea said so: “I congratulate Fenerbahce, but you can’t play like that at the European level. The opponent fouled a lot. Two players from our team were hospitalized” (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 08.09.22). Actually, the press conference ended there.
It is curious that Jesus was quick to accuse Dynamo of anti-football. Like, it was they who set the tone for aggressive actions and even before the break they began to drag out playing time. And after the final whistle, the Portuguese even made a circus on the field, starting to educate Bushchan like a clown.
“In the first half, Dynamo wanted to stop us with tactical fouls. It shouldn't be like that. I respect Lucescu's opinion, but I don't agree with what he said. In addition, the Kiev goalkeeper was constantly on the lawn to play for time. I don’t know how football is played in Ukraine, but football players shouldn’t behave like this. Lucescu has his own opinion, I have mine. But when he looks at the statistics, he will see that he is wrong" (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 09.09.22).
Unbiased statistics testified that Dynamo players violated the rules 16 times during the match, and Fenerbahce - 19! In addition, Buschan ended the fight with a serious knee injury, and Shaparenko had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. He has a torn cruciate ligament in his knee. Both were urgently sent for an operation in Barcelona.
The press conference of Mircea Lucescu also ended in a boorish way. An employee of the Dynamo club, Andrey Shakhov Jr., said that when the Kiev mentor wanted to leave the hall, local journalists began to provoke him, shouting offensive phrases, and showing obscene gestures.
The audience at the stadium behaved in a similar way. When the players of the Kyiv team went out to warm up, they were insulted from the stands, throwing bottles and other objects. This was also evident during the broadcast, when the spectators threw coins and lighters at Dynamo players during a corner.
Outraged by the atmosphere at the stadium in Istanbul and the president of FC Dynamo Igor Surkis. In an interview with PROFootball Digital, he, in particular, noted: “I’m wondering why football is not guilty of such a fuss. A hundred thousand dollars' worth of reprimands that UEFA reacted with a colossal fine against Fenerbahce. The football players of the team and the home matches of the Champions League qualifiers against our team were treated rudely.
Suitable from Lucescu, which judge simply did not fit into the thunder. Shaparenko knows how to draw the cross-like ties of the knee, you should not break your leg, and the arbitrator will not show you a yellow card.
And I won’t say anything about the behavior of Turkish fans - here I can give an assessment to the official authorities. But it’s simply unacceptable to behave like this in the modern world” (09/10/22).
At the same time, Igor Surkis confirmed that he continues to fully trust Mircea Lucescu and is sure that such an experienced coach will be able to lead the team out of a series of failures in the near future. It’s just that the coach forced the preparation of the players in the hope of taking the Kyivans to the group stage of the Champions League. It didn’t work out, and the team got a little hooked. In addition, an epidemic of injuries hit football players. But after a pause for the national team matches, everything should work out.
Special hopes are also placed on young people who have not yet been shot, who, in the current situation, willy-nilly or not, are forced to patch up gaps. As an example, the entrance to the field in the match against Fenerbahce of defender Kravchenko, who played in ... attack. And winger Samba Diallo, who has been followed by many prominent clubs in Europe for several days, can generally become a discovery. By the way, at the recently completed West African Youth Championship, Diallo became the top scorer of the tournament and was recognized as the best player.
The well-known master of the pen Nikolai Nesenyuk also suggests not to inflate the elephant: “Dynamo players were frankly unlucky this time. The two goals conceded were completely optional - besides them, Fenerbahce created practically nothing, stubbornly throwing the ball at the Dynamo goal. It worked twice and brought victory. Which gives us the opportunity to look at the game of the Kiev team as objectively as possible” (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 09.09.22).
What is the result? Yes, the hosts' players played rough, brazen and dirty. But wasn't this known beforehand? After all, we have recently played with this opponent twice. So, maybe it was worth pushing back too? Athletic football lessons in European competitions are expensive. Therefore, these lessons should be analyzed in detail so as not to repeat your own mistakes.
“Therefore, as for me, the defeat from Fenerbahce is more useful for the current Dynamo than a quite probable draw and even victory. Lost precious tournament points, subject to correct conclusions, can be the due payment for a lesson in real, albeit Turkish, football. The main thing is to learn this lesson!” the journalist believes. (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 09.09.22).
Victor ZHURAVLEV
