Football referee detained on suspicion of influencing match outcome

In Russia, a football referee has been detained by the police on suspicion of influencing the outcome of a First League match.

Idman.biz reports that 33-year-old Bogdan Golovko is suspected of deliberately making the wrong decision in favor of Torpedo in the last round of the 2024/25 season against KAMAZ.

The game ended in a 1:1 draw. In the 51st minute of the match, Golovko sent off KAMAZ player Ilya Zhigulyov. According to the results of the championship, Torpedo directly qualified for the Russian Premier League.

Golovko did not award a penalty to Torpedo in two controversial episodes during the game. The Referee-Expert Commission operating under the President of the Russian Football Union considered the referee's decision correct in one of these episodes, and incorrect in the other.

The operation to detain Golovko was carried out with the support of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the leadership of the Russian Football Union.

Earlier, the Moscow court sent Torpedo owner Leonid Sobolev and club director Valery Skorodumov to a pre-trial detention center, accusing them of illegally influencing the results of the team's games. The capital's representative may face various penalties, from fines to exclusion from all competitions.

It should be noted that the Disciplinary Committee of the Russian Football Union will consider the Torpedo case on July 10.

Idman.biz