The final of the volleyball tournament in the Olympic London 2012 is a story that cannot be forgotten. The Russians in the match with the Brazilians bounced back with 0-2 and became champions. Libero Alexei Obmochaev, who carried the heaviest balls, also made a great contribution to that miracle.

But that game was the peak for the defender. After her career took off.

Now Obmochaev is not needed even by second-tier clubs.

“Just don’t break”

In Russian volleyball, the off-season, and the teams are trying to strengthen their problematic positions. In particular, Ural Ufa needs a libero – his place became vacant after Vladimir Shishkin left for Dynamo-LO. To close the position, it was decided to invite Obmochaev.

It seemed that there would be no problems with signing the 34-year-old veteran. But suddenly the transfer failed. According to the Business Online Sport portal, Obmochaev did not want to move to Ufa due to inappropriate clauses in the contract.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Maxim Bogodvid

Later it became known that Ural simply asked the volleyball player … not to violate the sports regime. Alexei did not agree to such conditions and stopped negotiations.

We offered him an individual contract. There was nothing wrong with it – just don’t break it. He considered that these conditions were unacceptable for him. Since he refused, it means that he has doubts in himself, ”Ural President Valery Bagmetov said in an interview with BO Sport.

As a result, the Ufa team invited Belarusian Maxim Budyukhin, who played in the lower divisions of France last season, to the position of libero. Alexey Obmochaev is currently unemployed.

Sprees and scandals

The problems of the star volleyball player with the regime began in his youth. In 2011, Alexey Obmochaev, along with the outrageous namesake Spiridonov, drank at the location of the national team, for which they were disqualified. True, if Spirik received a real punishment and because of this did not go to the Olympics, then his companion got off with a conditional suspension.

After the victory in London, Obmochaev, according to the people around him, changed for the worse. The head coach of the national team Vladimir Alekno publicly stated that Alexei had a “star disease”. Obmochaev himself denied this fact, but admitted that it was difficult for him to communicate with others.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya

Then there was a high-profile departure from Zenit Kazan and three relatively quiet years at Dynamo Moscow. In 2016, Obmochaev was expelled from the club, accused of absenteeism – he often missed training and matches for disrespectful reasons. As it turned out, family troubles were to blame: Alexey divorced his wife, the famous volleyball player Natalia Goncharova, and was very upset by the separation.

– I cheated, I went on a spree. My life turned upside down at that moment. It was the behavior of a weak man who did not understand what he was doing, – Obmochaev frankly admitted in an interview with BO Sport.

After Dynamo there was Belogorye, where Alexei managed to show his high class. But from there he left with a scandal. Libero accused the Belgorod residents of failing financial obligations, and they responded by saying that Obmochaev often violated the sports regime. This story spoiled his relationship with the sports director of Belogorye Taras Khtey – they had previously played together in the national team.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Maxim Bogodvid

Since 2020, Obmochaev has been playing in the Kemerovo Kuzbass. There were no public scandals, but at the end of last season, the Siberians did not renew the contract with him. According to some reports, the star libero often went on a spree and let the team down. Valentin Golubev came to his place from Zenit Kazan.

Top intruder

At the same time, Alexey Obmochaev is excellent on the volleyball court. In the London final, he not only saved, but even scored one point: his transfer to someone else’s half in the fifth installment was, in fact, a sentence for the Brazilians. The Libero was so happy that he almost ran into the stands.

“I rarely earn points. The Brazilians were completely nailed by that situation. They realized that there was no way out, – Obmochaev recalled in an interview with Sports.ru.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya

Even against the backdrop of all the problems, Alexey remains a top libero. In the last season of the Superleague, he showed 53 percent of positive reception and was in the top five according to this indicator. Of course, with such numbers, you can get a job in any elite club.

But are potential employers willing to put up with a breach of discipline?