Mario swore allegiance to the army team, but did not keep his word.
One of the most high-profile transfers in Russian football this summer was the transfer of Mario Fernandez to Zenit. The former CSKA player swore allegiance to the Red-Blues, but did not keep his word.
Army fans are furious.
“I was rooting for Zenit with all my might.
Ex-footballer of CSKA and the Russian national team Mario Fernandez officially became a player of Zenit. The 32-year-old defender signed a 1+1 contract. The transfer itself has already made a lot of noise, but for some reason Mario decided to add fuel to the fire after the Russian Super Cup, where Zenit beat CSKA.
– It’s always difficult to watch from the sidelines, because you want to be on the field, at the epicenter of events. But I was rooting for Zenit with all my might, so that he would win – thank God, it happened, – the press service of Zenit quotes Fernandez.
The desire to please the fans of the new club is understandable, but it could have been more diplomatic. Fernandez’s words outraged many CSKA fans. It came to radical calls.
“Draw a true legend”
Last year, graffiti with Mario Fernandez was painted on the walls of the VEB Arena, thus perpetuating the legend of the club. Now the fans are calling to paint over the image. There is even a petition on the Internet!
However, some “red-blue” fans put forward such proposals even earlier. The desire to erase Mario from the history of the club is understandable: his act really hurt the fans.
– Definitely color it. He died for us.
— Draw another real CSKA legend in his place!
– Draw a nose like a clown.
However, some fans believe that history is history and nothing needs to be changed. Anyway, the Brazilian gave a lot to the army team …
– Leave, even if what happened happened, but for us and our club he will always remain a Legend!
– This is history, it cannot be painted over, no matter how sad it may be. But I would remove it from the wall.
– Leave. The attitude towards him has changed, but he has contributed to our victories: what is, what is. History cannot be touched. I would add his own words to the image, which he said that he would never go to Zenit. Add them in Russian and Portuguese, so that when he comes to play against us, he reads it every time.
It is not yet clear what the leadership of CSKA will do. Obviously, the club is not going to justify Mario’s act. The blame for what happened is entirely placed on the player.
— PFC CSKA never abandoned the idea of Mario returning to the club. At the same time, we are convinced that the payment of compensation for a player whom the club met halfway and released free of charge, despite the presence of a two-year contract, is incorrect in itself. Nevertheless, the club reached an agreement with Internacional to pay the required amount. However, the player’s side withdrew from the negotiations, announcing the signing of a contract with another club. Last summer, we did not say goodbye to Mario, but said “Goodbye.” Now it’s time to say goodbye,” the press service of the army said.
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The new season of the MIR RPL starts on July 21 with the Dynamo-Krasnodar match. Match TV will show live three matches of the first round: Lokomotiv – Rubin (July 22, 17:15), Akhmat – Sovetov Wings (July 22, 19:45) and Sochi – Baltika (July 23, 19:45).
