Former Lviv Karpaty striker Taras Kabanov recalled a case of financial incentives from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Taras Kabanov during his time playing for Karpaty. Photo by E. Kravs- What matches do you remember most from your time playing for Karpaty?
- Of course, against Dynamo and Shakhtar. And also those in which I scored goals and they turned out to be victorious. For example, when we played Kryvbas in Lviv and were losing 0-2 during the game. I came on after the break and scored two goals in the end, the second of which was the winner. Then I had a double in Mariupol, which also brought a 3-2 victory to Karpaty. The match in Lviv against Dynamo turned out to be interesting, when we lost to Kyiv 3-4 and Maksym Shatskikh scored the winning goal in added time.
But the match that sticks in my mind the most is the one when Karpaty played Dynamo Kyiv in May 2001, three rounds before the end of the league. "Shakhtar were in the championship race and we could have helped the Pitmen become the champions of Ukraine for the first time. We had to take points away from Dynamo. We drew 1-1 (Dynamo head coach Oleksiy Mykhailychenko said at the post-match press conference that Karpaty were happy to get a point as if they had won the Champions League - ed.
- But that season, Shakhtar did not become the champion.
- It didn't because in the penultimate round in Donetsk, they failed to beat CSKA Moscow 0-0. "The Miners won the championship the following year.
- Did Shakhtar promise you good bonuses if you took points from Dynamo?
- Yes. Bonuses from third parties were not prohibited at that time. We received very good money for that draw.
Oleksandr Petrov
