Last week, three previously postponed matches of the autumn part of the Ukrainian Championship were completed, and group tournaments ended at the world championship in Qatar and the playoffs started.
But it was not these events that prevailed in the domestic sports, and not only the media, but the grandiose corruption scandal that broke out in Ukrainian football. Its main defendants were the highest officials of the UAF.
Detention or bail
The wick of revealing corruption in the House of Football smoldered for a long time: not a month, not a year, but several years. Representatives of the media, with reference to law enforcement agencies, counted a dozen criminal cases that were never brought to an end. The Verkhovna Rada created a special commission of inquiry, but its report was never heard, and the original document was mysteriously cut three times. The amount of theft was estimated at tens, if not hundreds of millions of hryvnias. And then things got off the ground, the ice broke.
The countdown of recent events, apparently, should be carried out from the moment when some time ago, when crossing the border checkpoint in Rava-Russkaya, UAF Secretary General Yury Zapisotsky was handed a suspicion by representatives of the prosecutor's office.
Despite the angry reaction of the latter and the honored masters who rushed to his defense, accusations of law enforcement agencies of violating procedural procedures, searching in their ranks for infiltrated Cossacks and collaborators of the aggressor, who avenged the UAF for their patriotic position, it was not possible to hide behind verbal chatter.
Further more. Following the Secretary General, the financial director of the organization Evgenia Sagaydak and the leader of Ukrainian football Andriy Pavelko himself received suspicions.
On November 28, Judge of the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv, Irina Litvinova, began consideration of the petition of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to impose a measure of restraint on Zapisotsky. According to the investigation, he is accused of committing a crime that has signs of embezzlement and legalization (laundering) of income. Prosecutors demanded for Zapisotsky detention or bail.
And the next day, hearings on the Pavelko case were held. After the prosecutor’s speech, UAF lawyers Denis Bugay and Sergey Boyko said that they did not understand what specific criminal actions their client had committed and believed that there were no risks for the criminal case requiring a measure of restraint.
The performance of Pavelko himself was very indicative. He began by noting his own merits and achievements. Somehow: the national team's entry into the quarterfinals of Euro 2020, junior gold at the 2019 World Cup, holding the Champions League final in Kyiv in 2018. And as the pinnacle of virtues - the initiation of a new design of the national team uniform with a map of Ukraine.
“However, despite all the successful results, far-fetched criminal proceedings have been opened against the President of the UAF for several years, - did not fail to mark the site Ukranews.com. — At the same time, the current dirty campaign against Pavelko and his colleagues is directed not so much against him personally, as it aims to discredit Ukrainian football as such, very likely on the order of Russian agents" (29.11.22)
Arguments, they say, on the surface. After all, it was on Pavelko's initiative that Russian clubs and national teams were suspended from competitions under the auspices of FIFA and UEFA. It was he who contributed to the fact that the Russian Federation was banned from participating in the final selection for the 2022 World Cup and removed from the Euro 2024 qualifying draw. Finally, the UAF is the only one of the sports associations that filed a claim with the ECHR regarding compensation for damage caused by the aggressor.
True, where human rights to the UAF are here, it is not entirely clear. The main thing is: how can such a person be convicted of sins? Especially after the House of Football began preparations for submitting a joint application with Spain and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup.
“The holding of the World Cup in our country now depends on me personally, Pavelko declared without false modesty. — This cannot be allowed in the aggressor country. And it is with this that I connect the next wave of criminal cases and suspicions against me (Ukranews.com, 11/29/22).
And he ended his speech with a pathetic appeal to the judge: “My arrest in a far-fetched case, where there are no losses and no victim, will lead to an international scandal and an irretrievable loss of the UAF’s image, and then to the loss of Ukraine’s right to host the World Cup. By doing this, you will harm not me, but the state. This will mean that the enemy has won and achieved the desired result for him.
Despite the fact that the honored masters Oleg Blokhin, Igor Belanov, Alexei Mikhailichenko and Anatoly Demyanenko arrived to support their patron in the Pechersk Court, this did not make the proper impression on Irina Litvinova. And she appointed a measure of restraint - two months in custody with the possibility of bail (it was determined in the amount of 9 million 880 thousand hryvnias).
“The detention of Andrei Pavelko and Yuriy Zapisotsky is unreasonable, and the measures taken are excessive, - said the lawyers of the defendants in the process. — The judge's decisions will be appealed. If necessary, we will apply not only to national courts, but also to the ECtHR.” (Ukranews.com, 11/29/22).
In their opinion, there is a fictitious victim in the case - the football association of the capital, which is not even a member of the UAF, and no specific act is indicated in the suspicion. In fairness, we note that it was through the efforts of the UAF that the Kyiv Football Federation, for far-fetched reasons and in violation of all regulatory and statutory norms, was thrown out of a higher organization.
As for the actual essence of the matter, we are talking about a fictitious, inflated price when buying equipment for the so-called "Pavelko plant", or rather, FFU Production LLC, which produces artificial turf for football fields, from one of the UAE companies. The amount of the overpayment was one million dollars. Now the UAF is trying to convince that this surplus is not corrupt, but was used to repay the debt to the creditors of the association. Here is such an interesting scheme.
Furthermore. Some time later, the plant built near Kyiv was moved to Kramatorsk, where it completely stopped its work. And the grass previously made on it was sold with a fair markup - more expensive than foreign. But these are details that the investigation has yet to figure out. As in many others.
After all, according to the website Antikor.com.ua The National Police, DBR, NABU and the Prosecutor's Office are investigating at least ten criminal cases on the facts of the illegal activities of Pavelko and his managers: “The cases are completely different - both about primitive corruption, such as overestimating the cost of construction work, and withdrawing money offshore, and about collusion with NABU detectives, as well as obstructing the legitimate activities of journalists.
The amount of damage caused by Pavelko and his functionaries to the budget of Ukraine and international organizations is estimated by experts at about UAH 550 million" (29.11.22).
At the same time, the Office of the Prosecutor General specified: “According to the investigation, when purchasing equipment for the construction of a plant for the production of artificial turf for football fields, UAF officials seized 26.5 million hryvnias. Later they legalized part of these funds.
Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, the President and Secretary General of the UAF were notified of suspicion of taking possession of other people's property and legalization of property obtained by criminal means (part 5 of article 191, part 3 of article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)", - said Interfax.com.ua (29.11.22).
Blackmails the authorities and the country
It is likely that a certain part of the laundered funds went to meet the personal needs of the protagonist. After all, when, on October 18, representatives of the investigation raided Pavelko’s country residence in Khotyanovka, on the shore of the Kyiv reservoir, with a search, very curious details were discovered.
According to the declaration that the President of the UAF submitted in 2018, he rents a house in Khotyanovka with an area of 123 square meters. However, the security building at the gate turned out to be of this size, and further on, on the territory of 84 acres, there is an estate with an area of 1,231 sq.m. The minimum market value of the land alone is about 300 thousand dollars. The building itself, according to realtors, can cost more than 5 million.
In addition, illegal use of a strip of state land intended for forestry was revealed. This land should have free access for everyone. But on public land there is a luxurious private Pavelko beach and boat parking. The stuffing of homeownership turned out to be piquant as well — from luxury furniture to hundreds of pairs of crocodile leather shoes.
“So, war is not a crisis for all Ukrainians, - made a conclusion Antikor.com.ua. — Whether this building was in use by Pavelko during his deputy, because, erected in 2013, it did not appear in the declaration, the investigation will have to find out. As well as where Pavelko and his mother get the money to buy such property. By the way, Pavelko's mother purchased the house, and in fact she simply decorated it, recently - on September 19th. However, judging by the habitability of the house, Pavelko and his family have been living here for a long time. The football community will definitely be shocked, because instead of football bases, children's schools and an artificial turf factory, one large infrastructure has been built - Pavelko's house, Pavelko's security house and a beach for the UAF president on state-owned land. A real combination of the beauty of nature, lawlessness and, judging by the scope, incredible corruption" (29.11.22).
Pavelko himself initially denied the fact of a search in his residence. But when the story about his home ownership was shown on television, he put his tongue to hell. But watching this video, according to available information, caused, delicately speaking, indignation even among people with steel nerves and other steel organs.
However, the football leader has so far managed to avoid bars. Unlike his accomplice Zapisotsky, who still had to spend the night in the Lukyanovsky pre-trial detention center in the capital. For both on the same day, November 29, a deposit was made in the total amount of UAH 19,760,000.
This was done by the UAF Marketing company, 100 percent of the authorized capital of which belongs to ... UAF. And according to the charter of the latter, only the Presidium of the UAF, consisting of ... Pavelko, Zapisotsky and Sagaydak (she has been placed under house arrest), can make such a decision.
"Watch your hands suggests investigative journalist and social activist Konstantin Andriyuk. — All three are under investigation, all three are under suspicion. How could people under suspicion vote to withdraw funds for their own bail and release them from custody? The minute has gone! And don't you think that this is a criminal conflict of interest? Which can be investigated by our law enforcement officers "(www.tribuna.com, 11/30/22).
Andriyuk gave another detail: “Information has appeared that the prosecutor’s office is preparing suspicion for another representative of the UAF — First Vice President Vadim Kostyuchenko. In what criminal case he will be involved, I do not know now. But they say that he is not in Ukraine, because he left for Spain. There he has his own house, bought for the modest salary of a football official. The prosecutor's office is already checking this fact. Looking forward to more news" (fanday.net, 11/29/22).
However, according to Pavelko, Kostyuchenko, along with his other associates, on November 29, took part in a meeting in the House of Football, at which they discussed the upcoming lawsuit with the ECHR to compensate for the damage caused to Ukrainian football by the aggressor, and work on a joint application to host the 2030 World Cup
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to repel terrorist attacks on the front line, and the UAF team fights on the football front, - the person involved in the criminal case said in his usual manner. — After successfully isolating Russian teams in the international arena, we are moving towards the implementation of the following goals. Despite the many obstacles that the external enemy and his local henchmen create for us, we will definitely succeed in both projects" (sportarena.com, 11/29/22).
Meanwhile, the very next day the site Tribuna.com announced that the UAF would soon hold a meeting of the executive committee: “It is planned to convene an extraordinary Congress of the UAF on December 20. The issues to be considered are the election of the President of the UAF and the leadership of the organization. The elections may take place despite the decision of the Pechersk Court of September 5 to ban consideration at the Congress of the election of the president, vice presidents, members of the executive committee and the audit body of the UAF" (30.11.22).
The House of Football immediately rushed to refute this information: "At this year's holding of the UAF's call-and-selection congress, it is possible only after talking to the regime of the military camp in Ukraine and the ship's fence for such events.
The catering and holding of the after-hours congress are governed by the norms of Article 19 of the UAF Statute, as a revenge, if possible, in the lines and terms of such a call and holding. Zakrema, it has been conveyed that the administration is sending letters to the members of the UAF informing them about calling the next day of the congress no later than fifty days before the fixed date of the event" (Uaf.ua, 11/30/22).
However, there is no smoke without fire, and news from the localities about holding meetings of executive committees in regional associations began to penetrate into the information space. In the protocol of Zakarpatskaya, for example, one of the issues of the upcoming congress was the election of the president of the UAF. And in Zaporozhye, they put forward their candidate at all in the person of ... Andriy Shevchenko.
On Friday, the UAF also held its executive committee. According to Konstantin Andriyuk, absolutely illegitimate. Because for the quorum, 23 out of 45 members had to take part in it. There were only 19 members, and only nine of them represented regional associations. Plus two participated online. Still not enough!
But the most interesting thing happened during the meeting. What Andriyuk told about in his Telegramchannel venerable Artem Frankov.
Pavelko started with a story that on the same day President Zelensky called him. But Andrei Vasilyevich was busy, so he missed the call of the President. And when I called back, the phone was no longer picked up at the other end. So we didn't talk.
Further, the head of the UAF promised the audience that all criminal cases against him would be closed and he would be acquitted. And all the current problems of the UAF, literally, "because of a boy named Shevchenko." They say that the Office of the President has nothing better to do than to push Shevchenko to the post of head of the UAF.
And he added that he was called to the leadership of the country and offered to voluntarily resign from his post. But Pavelko nobly refused, because "he cannot leave his people to the mercy of fate."
And now the most important thing: Pavelko invited the members of the executive committee to sign a letter prepared in advance to FIFA and UEFA, in which the UAF complains about political pressure. Which, in turn, should lead to the exclusion of Ukraine from these organizations and deprive it of the right to participate in the tender for hosting the 2030 World Cup.
The remark of one of the members of the executive committee that there is no direct evidence of political pressure ran into a sharp rejection of Pavelko and his closest associates. But, in the end, the executive committee insisted on its own, and a letter with amendments and additions was put to a vote.
Pavelko also warned everyone who expresses distrust in the regions not to send the protocols of their executive committees to the Football House. Because he will win anyway, and whoever doubts this will be in disgrace" (T.me, 04.12.22).
It is clear that this is agony. It is also clear that this is a sentence for him.
“Pavelko sees that the situation smells bad, - says TV journalist and blogger Roman Bebekh. — And now he is doing everything to present himself as a victim of the influence of political structures. It is also clear that he will cling to his position to the last and insist on the illegitimacy of possible re-elections. Criminal cases are catching up, they cannot be solved, which means that it is necessary to hide behind the higher football authorities" (fanday.net, 02.12.22).
Well, it seems that permissiveness and impunity in the highest echelons of the UAF is coming to an end. Time places accents and shows everyone their place.
Thanks to the Dynamo team from the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Three postponed matches took place in the Ukrainian championship last week. Thanks to a confident victory over Metalist (3:0) on November 30, Dynamo Kyiv finished the autumn part of the championship in third place (30 points). Zorya could catch up with the White-Blues, but a day later they tied with Kolos (2:2).
Shakhtar scored the same as the Kyivans (30 points), but the Pitmen have two games in hand. Dnipro-1 is still in the lead with 35 points.
Summing up the match, Dynamo coach Mircea Lucescu remarked: "I'm worried about our attacks - we play a lot of combinations, but the last pass, the last decision is most often wrong. So everything is blocked. Today it was better with this: we scored three goals, but we could have scored six or seven. So again, too much was not implemented.
Now we need to analyze everything that has been done this season. We are waiting for a long pause. During this time, many points need to be discussed. I hope for fruitful work during this period. I would like Shaparenko to return as soon as possible, to recover from a serious injury. His absence is felt, the team needs him.
Of course, we also monitor those of our players who are on loan at other clubs. So that at any time you can return the player. Renting is a rewarding experience for young performers. They have more playing time, and we can see their growth better" (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 11/30/22).
The fact that, after a long decline, Dynamo began to find their best condition was also noticed by many observers. Sergei Sytnik, for example, wrote: "Since Dynamo said goodbye to European Cups, let the team go uphill in the domestic arena. In six matches, the White-Blues won two wins with two draws. Give birth to a moment bi buti and more vagomim, calling on those who p’5 matches of the clubs were held at the native arena.
More importantly, Mircea Lucescu has recently seen Mircea Lucescu on the post-important voyages, if he explained the decline in the results of the secondary ones. The first axis to change the "nomadic" way of life came to the "masters" - and immediately the results came. The kiani got out of the middle of the tournament table and already outperformed the top three winners" (footboom.com, 11/30/22).
The author notes that, having scored two goals before the break, the Dynamo team predetermined the outcome of the match already in the first half. And the second one was held in class. Sytnik's attention was also paid to the fact that the lawn of the Lobanovsky Stadium, thanks to the efforts of the club services, was brought to almost perfect condition. Despite the fact that it snowed the day before, the weather did not indulge.
“Pidopichni Mirchi Lucescu saw a dogless duel. By prolonging the last playing hour, the stench led the initiative, worked from the position of strength, commemoratively pulled up the organization of combinations, as if there was a lack of success, implementation. Goli did not embarrass himself for a long time. "Dynamo" actually ripped off the super player, who, having begun to have a mustache more often, " - for his part, Viktor Kotov noted (Footclub.com.ua, 11/30/22).
The author of one of the goals scored against Metalist, already the 10th in the season, was attacking midfielder Vitaliy Buyalsky. By the way, this is a personal record of the player.
"I don't get hung up on the number of goals, - said the best, according to many experts, at the moment Dynamo footballer in an interview to the club website. — For me, the most important thing is that the team wins. It's hard to say how it will be in the second round. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. There is a war going on in the country, if you wake up and everyone is alive, this is the main thing that matters. That's when the war is over, then in football and in any other area there will be only positive emotions" (fcdynamo.com, 11/30/22).
By the way, after the match with Metalist, it was Vitaly Buyalsky, Viktor Tsygankov, assistant coach Oleg Gusev, and the whole Dynamo at the Lobanovsky Stadium that were thanked for the help that the capital club provides to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, to the fighters of the 135th separate battalion of the Territorial Defense, who took part in the defense of the country's borders in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
On the same day, November 30, the Dynamo team went on vacation, which they will be on until January 12. And in the autumn part of the national championship, there is only one match left to play: on December 7, Rukh and Chernomorets will meet. Seven more matches have been rescheduled for spring. The championship will resume in early March.
But the very fact that, despite the aggression of the Rashists, constant air raids and bombardments, the threat to the health and life of people, our country holds internal competitions, is admired in all corners of the planet.
“Football players have left their main mission in the minds of the war. The stench showed the Ukrainians that, after all, life is trivay. The killers have taken away psychological doping for football. Just think about it: Russia wants to destroy us, but we play football. Are we not a unique nation? We didn’t lose heart, we didn’t give up!” - Expressing the point of view of many, the Honored Master of Sports Stefan Reshko spoke (1927.kiev.ua, 02.12.22).
And the well-known columnist Nikolai Nesenyuk, continuing the topic, wrote: “The first half of the football championship of Ukraine, which started ahead of Independence Day, has ended. It is possible, not so, as it was thought, but 113 matches of the first stake out of the planned 120 were played away. Let it go with the benefits - transfers, spikes through repeated worries and vimknennya light - but the teams still played matches.
Now you can try out the puffy bags and the goodies on the food smut - what was the need to start the football championship at the fall of the war? Let me ask myself - I know what the need was! To show yourself, the world to the enemy, that, in the face of mortal insecurity, we continue to play football and we encourage the nation to win! (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 04.12.22).
Of course, not everything, according to the author, went smoothly, not only because of military circumstances. The moment was extremely unfortunate to transfer TV broadcasts to a paid platform, and for some reason it turned out that the World Cup matches can be watched for free, and you pay extra for the matches of the internal calendar.
Refereeing was not inspired either. Some servants of the football Themis acted so shamelessly that they had to forget about rocket attacks. And the calendar was violated by everyone so that it seemed as if the teams themselves decide among themselves when and where to play.
“I won’t continue talking about the trash, - nevertheless, Nesenyuk summed up. — Tom Why did football still make us feel invincible. And an hour for those, abi correct all the indicated and not indicated nedolіki, є — until the next day, if the championship can be renewed. Possibly, other people should be zealous. And so you instill even a little, ale nadiya ... "(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 04.12.22).
Victor ZHURAVLEV
