Moskalev told how he tried to separate Nicholson from Rodrigao in the scandalous match between Zenit and Spartak

Football referee Vladimir Moskalev told RT about the pressure on him after the scandalous FONBET match of the Russian Cup between Zenit and Spartak.

The meeting of the teams within the framework of the Russian Cup was held in St. Petersburg in November and ended with the victory of Zenit in the penalty shoot-out. After the end of regular time, a massive brawl took place on the field, as a result of which the FTC RFU disqualified for six games the players of the “blue-white-blue” Malcolm, Rodrigao and Vilmar Barrios, as well as Alexander Selikhov, Shamar Nicholson and Alexander Sobolev from Spartak.

We are all human and understand everything perfectly. Usually you carefully prepare for meetings – here there was not much time for full preparation. As for the media, I don’t read them after matches. It is important for me to know what the professionals think.

Immediately after the game, you try not to go into deep analysis. Like football players, we need to cool down and put the nervous system in order, rest. And only after a few days with a cool head you begin a detailed analysis of the match.

– During the fight, you climbed to separate Shamar Nicholson from Rodrigao, although blows were flying from both sides. Were you afraid that you might get hurt?

“Of course, I could have fallen under the distribution, but then I didn’t think about it. When you can nip conflict in the bud, you do it. I thought if I could calm them down, then the conflict would be over. Moreover, both already had warnings. Apparently, after the final whistle, the Jamaican and the Brazilian could not control their emotions.

The Russian football season resumed on February 22 with the matches of the FONBET Cup of Russia, and on March 3 the WORLD RPL will continue. Watch live broadcasts of RPL matches and the Cup of the country on the Match TV federal channel and the thematic channels of the holding, as well as on matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.