The All-Russian Fans' Association (VOB) is going through difficult times. On Saturday, September 24, the organization was removed from the membership of the Russian Football Union (RFU), and its leader Alexander Shprygin, nicknamed Kamancha, was detained by riot police. Over the next two days, there were reports of searches being carried out at the VOB office, as well as of Shprygin’s burned-out car. Lenta.ru explains the reasons for what is happening.

Eau de Toilette

Let's start with the most recent events that occurred on Monday night. VOB President Alexander Shprygin posted a photo of his burnt car on Twitter, calling the incident arson. The victim refused to comment on the incident, noting that he needed to understand the situation.

According to Lenta.ru, the cause of the incident could have been revenge from one of Shprygin’s former supporters in the VOB. Thus, the head of the organization was “informed” about the reaction of the fan community to the events that had occurred the day before, as a result of which the All-Russian Association of Fans will, apparently, announce self-liquidation in the near future.

It all started on Saturday, when during an extraordinary conference of the Russian Football Union, law enforcement officers staged a “mask show” and detained Shprygin in the toilet of the hotel where the election of the RFU President was taking place. Literally immediately information appeared about mass searches being carried out at the VOB office in Tovarishchesky Lane in the capital. The official website of the organization has ceased operation. It also became known about the exclusion of the VOB from the membership of the RFU.

Official information about the reasons for what was happening was contradictory. The newly re-elected president of the RFU, Vitaly Mutko, said that work is being carried out against Shprygin at the request of law enforcement agencies in Germany and France, who continue to investigate the riots organized by Russian fans at Euro 2016. Later it was reported that the detention of the head of the VOB was connected with a mass fight of football fans that occurred on January 31, 2016 in the area of ​​the Moscow metro station “Sportivnaya”. Allegedly Shprygin acted as one of its organizers.

However, no official charges were brought against the leader of the VOB. “The only thing was that searches were carried out at his place of residence and at his mother’s. But they did not find anything essential to initiate a case. The hard drives were seized and they will be checked, but I talked to Alexander, and he said that there could be nothing serious there. He was released without any charges being brought. He himself views this as an attempt to influence him in order to be relieved of his position,” R-Sport quotes lawyer Artur Golovanov, who previously represented Shprygin’s interests in the judiciary.

According to Golovanov, the detention is unlikely to be related to a clash between fans. “He has an alibi for this; he was at home that day. And on this occasion he was called and questioned a month ago. And since there were also no compelling reasons to bring charges, they were released. In my opinion, this is a formal occasion.”

Speaking about the searches at the VOB, the lawyer said: “Nothing significant was found there either. The hard drives were seized, but Alexander is completely sure that there is nothing in them that has anything to do with the cases in which he was accused, and nothing that will incriminate him will be found.”

The specialist also considered the charges related to the claims of law enforcement agencies in France and Germany to be incompetent. “This is an assumption, like an accusation related to extremism. As of today, there are no compelling reasons for the arrest. Moreover, after Alexander left France, he was in Europe again, crossed the border, and European law enforcement agencies did not have any questions for him. Otherwise he would simply have been detained.”

Golovanov noted that Shprygin has not yet decided whether he will take any retaliatory measures, since he understands that he “faced serious structures represented by operational agencies.”

Friend of the Indians

The real reason for everything that happened, according to Lenta.ru, was the conflict between Shprygin and Mutko, which began to develop after incidents involving domestic fans that happened during the European Football Championship in France. In particular, the Minister of Sports was very upset by the behavior of Russian fans who staged a mass brawl in Marseille. The head of the VOB was named as one of the main culprits of the clashes, as he failed to ensure the proper level of organization of fan activity.

For the second time, Shprygin upset Mutko when, after being expelled from France, he voluntarily decided to attend a match in Toulouse with the Welsh national team, after which he was again expelled from the country. According to sources close to both sides, Alexander not only did not want to admit his guilt for what happened, but also went into open confrontation after he was asked to quietly and peacefully leave his post at the VOB.

Shprygin was guaranteed immunity and a decent “golden parachute,” but he refused. As a result, even the high patrons he acquired at the dawn of the organization’s existence did not help Alexander, which, according to its charter, was conceived as a unifying force, but eventually turned into a dividing one.

The PSB was created on May 25, 2007 at a conference specially convened for this occasion, held in the building of the Russian Olympic Committee. Its creators are officially considered to be Dynamo player Alexander Shprygin, who took the post of president, army player Andrei Malosolov, who agreed to become vice-president, and Torpedo player Valery Puzanov, who joined the central council of the organization.

The main objectives were declared to be upholding the rights of fans as the main consumers of football and sports, uniting fans of different clubs around the Russian national teams, as well as promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle.

The organization was created under the patronage of the then president of the RFU, Vitaly Mutko, despite active opposition to the project from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and even the security adviser to the head of the RFU, Nikolai Sorokin. Rumor has it that Mutko also doubted for a long time the need to create a public association of fans, who have a controversial reputation in Russia due to the large number of hooligan groups, and even almost fired Malosolov, who actively lobbied the RFU for this project.

In 2010, Malosolov still had to leave the VOB as a result of a conflict with Shprygin, in which one of the informal leaders of Spartak fans, Ivan Katanaev, took an active part. The riot organized by representatives of CSKA and Spartak failed, as a result of which the fans of these clubs left the organization. Soon fans of St. Petersburg Zenit also distanced themselves from VOB.

Kamancha and his “Indians” began to divide the money on their own, expanding the business - including the ticket business - to its fullest. The raging financial flows turned Shprygin's head so much that at some point he lost it. According to the majority of those close to him, recently some of the actions of the head of the VOB had a serious conflict with adequacy. Consider the strange persistence shown in returning to France after the country's authorities strongly recommended that he refrain from traveling. Mutko himself noticed the changes and eventually had to rein in the presumptuous creature.

ALEXANDER SHPRYGIN. On his business card below his last name there is the impressive word “president”, in his email address instead of his name there is the nickname boss, on the windshield of the car there is a State Duma pass for travel where others are not allowed. A big man, in a word. Leader of the VOB - All-Russian Fans' Association, member of the executive committee of the RFU - Russian Football Union. This is the place to be on the VIP podium - for especially important guests...

LEATHER LOCKS

– Is life good, Alexander? Watch football from the executive box - blankets, free drinks, snacks... Not like in the fan sectors under the supervision of evil cops.

– By the way, I’m going to write an extensive article on this topic in LiveJournal, the Internet LiveJournal. I haven’t really understood the behind-the-scenes environment for the elite yet, but it’s interesting to watch what’s happening. Now, according to my status, I am entitled to free tickets and invitations to all matches, it would be stupid not to take advantage. Although I got into VIP for the first time four years ago at the Lokomotiv stadium.

- Exotic?

“I was struck by a fashionably dressed lady who, during a match, chirped loudly to someone on the phone: “Darling, I’m at the football game. It's so weird and cool here! Boys in colorful T-shirts are running around, everyone is shouting and waving flags.” Then I learned that there are different lodges, there is a kind of division. The coolest ones, of course, are government ones. And the so-called red VIP is considered ordinary. This includes a seat in the stands and a buffet after the game.

Of course, watching football with a blanket and hot food is more comfortable and enjoyable than freezing outside the goal. People with money are used to living comfortably, so they want to have all the amenities at the stadium. For example, there was none of this at Dynamo in Petrovsky Park. Zero service! And in Khimki, where the team is moving during the reconstruction of the old arena, it will appear. Rich fans will be able to buy an annual subscription for one hundred thousand rubles and enjoy the game from the business box and have fun.

– How much will a ticket to the match cost?

- Five thousand rubles. For a serious person - pennies. It's like going to a restaurant once. But everything will be familiar, familiar. You can even watch a rerun on TV while you have a drink and a snack. Of course, the atmosphere in VIP is unique, intimate and bohemian. It takes time to get comfortable. On March 7, I was at Luzhniki for the Russian Super Cup. The audience around was entirely respectable: club leaders, sponsors, coaches, honored people - Cherchesov, Simonyan, hockey Tikhonov... No one really shouted or jumped up and down. Everything is quiet, sedate, calm. I won’t say that I felt out of place, but it was uncomfortable. I’m used to going to football to relax, unwind, and show off. So you hit the nail on the head with your question; I am having a deep philosophical discussion on this topic within myself.

– Isn’t the caliper offended that they exchanged it for leather stocks?

– There is nothing like it even close. I am still accessible, everyone knows my mobile phone number, the Internet is full of sites through which you can communicate with me directly. Now we are opening an office in Tovarishchesky Lane on Taganka, anyone is free to come there. I get into the VIP box a couple of times a year, and I regularly attend games of the Russian Championship, in almost every round. So consider...

It’s easier for me behind the gate with the fans. On March 28, the national team will play against Azerbaijan, and I will go to the “B” stand with the guys. Even at the Super Cup between CSKA and Rubin, I looked at the field, followed the stands, and read the banners.

– Have you seen the “message” to the Minister of Defense?

– Fans expressed their attitude towards the idea of ​​disbanding the army club. It turned out, maybe, a little rough, but it was specific.

– The question is not to cross the line of what is permissible. As happened with Zenit fans at last year’s match with Dynamo Moscow.

“The people of St. Petersburg acted extremely harshly with people who dared to insult the memory of the great Yashin. According to the club's decision, thugs will no longer appear at the stadium; they simply will not be sold tickets. Believe me, for those who cannot live without football, it is difficult to come up with a more severe punishment.

– How long have you been a fan, Alexander?

– I first went to football in 1989, for some reason at the match between Spartak and Yerevan Ararat, although I had been a Dynamo fan since I was five years old. At first I went with children’s tickets, but they weren’t allowed into the stadium without an adult, so I chose a more decent guy and asked: “Uncle, tell the controller that you are my dad.” I went to every game with a new “father”. At one time I kept a diary where I wrote down how many matches I attended during the season and what trips I went on. The formation of Russian football took place before my eyes. As is the development of the fan movement in the country. We were once considered rabble-rousers, but today they recognize that this is a powerful and well-organized movement.

RESCUE OF DROWNING PERSONS

– You can move in different directions. For example, along the path of extremism and nationalism.

– It’s not our choice, for sure. For some reason, fans continue to be persistently portrayed as a violent, always drunk and poorly controlled crowd, recalling fights between various factions, clashes with the police, plastic seats in the stands torn out with “meat” and especially the pogrom on Manezhnaya Square after the 2002 World Cup match between Russia and Japan. But then there was a drunken crowd, over which law enforcement officers lost control; this was not a planned action. Fan associations have changed a lot in recent years. Today, fans have direct contact with clubs, and in a certain sense even influence their policies. For example, “Phratria” ensured that the leadership of “Spartak” took into account its demands, and moved from confrontation to close cooperation. Dynamo fans have strong ties with the team, the army team, Lokomotiv and Zenit fans...

– Is VOB officially registered?

- Certainly. As an all-Russian social movement, uniting 53 regional branches. There are seven people on the board, five of them represent the country's leading fan organizations. We are part of the RFU, we have the right to vote at conferences, and I am now also a member of the executive committee, I am the plenipotentiary representative of fans in the Russian Football Union.

– If I’m not mistaken, there are 31 people on the executive committee. What can a lonely voice of a fan change in this harmonious choir? Who will hear him?

– Today it is important for us to state our position, to indicate our presence. And this is already a lot. Not all at once! VOB is less than two years old. For now I’m keeping quiet, delving into it, listening, learning, but I’m sure, if necessary, I’ll be able to prove and defend the fans’ position. With the active participation of the VOB, the rules regulating the behavior of spectators at sporting events, adopted back in 2002, are now being finalized. The procedure for carrying banners into the stands, agreeing on their content, and requirements for sound-amplifying equipment will be more clearly defined. The document is currently being approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; if it is accepted, it will be our major achievement. Although, I will not hide, the struggle is tough, the police, of course, are trying to tighten the rules as much as possible, limit any actions, but we believe that everything should be balanced, without excesses.

– Fans themselves often give reasons not to be mean to themselves.

“But this is not yet a reason to introduce draconian measures against everyone. If you follow this logic, Russia has long needed prohibition. How else? There are so many alcoholics here! It’s easier than ever to impose bans, but it’s much more difficult to make sure that every match turns into a truly interesting spectacle. At the Super Cup, three-quarters of the seats in Luzhniki were empty. In my opinion, this is terrible. Is it normal that fans didn't come to see the two best teams of last season? In England or Spain, people would be flocking to see such a game, but in our country, I’m sure many didn’t even know who was dating, with whom, when and where. People need to be attracted, find non-standard forms that can arouse interest. Let's say, what's scary about an organized fan performance? It's part of the show.

Take the same banners: they can be witty, bright, and expressive. And sometimes sad - depending on the situation. In any case, this is not a reason to ban them, which the police regularly try to do. At the match with Rubin, army fans were not allowed to carry a banner dedicated to the memory of their fallen comrade. They say it’s a holiday for people, there’s no need to spoil the mood. Who would the banner harm? This only causes irritation, a desire to do something out of spite. Moreover, in the cold season it is not difficult to drag any banner onto the podium by wrapping it around the body. Who knows! You can’t strip everyone down to their underpants.

Rather than waste energy on a “who will win” fight, it is better, I repeat, to try to come to an agreement by spelling out all the details in the law. In the end, you can attract not only lawyers, but also linguists. Let them give an expert assessment of the content of the banners.

“But when the stands start hooting like monkeys at the sight of black players, I’m afraid no amount of expertise will help.” This sounds like a diagnosis.

– I look at the situation differently. What you are talking about is the result of buying cheap foreign players, which undermines the level of Russian football as a whole. We need to raise our own students, and not bring here a bunch of random people. Agents, trying to line their pockets, sell third-rate goods, but you can’t fool a fan with chaff. People have learned to figure out what's what. I assure you, no one will holler at a strong player. Skin color does not matter in this situation.

FAT GREASY HANDS

- In a word, Alexander, everything is fine, don’t you see any problems with manifestations of racism in the stands?

– Of course, the culture of fan behavior needs to be improved. The VOB is also involved in this. We are currently developing a procedure for joining the organization. This is not about drying everything up and putting it on bureaucratic lines. We don’t want to trivially hand out membership cards and then walk around high offices, trumping the number of people covered. It won’t be difficult for us, as they say, to put half a million people in the country under arms, but that’s not the goal. We plan that those who are members of our organization will be able to receive some benefits; for example, a leading mobile operator has already offered a special tariff for VOB members. In addition, we are thinking of introducing modern interactive forms that will allow us to record and track information about each fan in a special database.

- Meaning? Is it easier to manage?

– Similar electronic cards have existed for a long time, for example, in England and Holland, and you can immediately see from them how regularly a fan attends matches. If, for example, there is an important game coming up, for which there are more applications than there are seats in the stadium, the most active ones will have an advantage. Vitaly Mutko liked our proposals, he said that he was ready to transfer to the VOB all issues related to the distribution of tickets for the national team’s matches, leaving for himself only those things that concern VIP guests. But we cannot yet take on such responsibility.

-What are you afraid of?

– The question is double-edged. It is necessary to create a transparent system that will exclude any fraud. There are plenty of people who like to speculate and make an extra penny. I will not hide that, as the president who has a significant quota for tickets, various businessmen periodically approach me with “interesting” offers.

- You, of course, are not corruptible?

“I’m smart enough to understand that attracting fans to our side will bring the organization much more dividends than momentary profit.” Ticket distribution companies think differently. They take advantage of the shortage and make the most of it. To break this bad practice, we want to introduce an electronic registration system. Then it won’t be difficult to track where and in what quantity the tickets went. These are obvious things, another question is that corruption has penetrated deeply into our football, affecting almost all structures. I don’t want to say anything bad about the RFU, but...

– You should try to criticize the organization of which you are a member of the executive committee!

– That’s not the point. The union itself does not sell tickets; it does not have a license. Previously, the RFU delegated rights to someone, but now, thank God, it has decided to create its own agency that will keep order. Today we can already predict that the match with Germany will cause a stir no less than the game with England a year and a half ago. VOB then passed the test with dignity, we had about 20 thousand tickets, they were distributed to organized fan clubs and were sold under strict control. In this sense, you won't be spoiled at VOB.

– Do you know what they say in Ukraine? The one who holds lard always has greasy hands...

- Right. But I don’t forget for a minute that today you can earn a certain amount of money by chasing the jackpot, and tomorrow you can lose your good name and never get it back. I’m not ready to answer for others, but I will say about myself: there is no amount for which I would put my reputation on the line. The chairman of the VOB board of trustees is Sergei Lipatov, president of the TTK company, which hosted the Russian Super Cup. It was he who helped us organize three free charters for the match with Germany. The trip was free for the fans, but in fact the pleasure cost almost four hundred thousand dollars, which Sergei Vladimirovich entrusted to the VOB. This attitude should be valued, and we understand this very well. Believe me, this is not Shura Balaganov from The Golden Calf, who is capable of stealing a wallet on a tram, forgetting about fifty thousand in his pocket. I’m fine – both mentally and financially.

– What do you earn from?

– My personal assets are well distributed. I am the founder of several companies, I am engaged in car service and cargo transportation, I have a share in a fashionable sports cafe, and I own land plots in the Pskov region.

- Did you buy the collective farm?

- Something like that. Broke, driven to bankruptcy by the previous careless owners.

- What is the name of? Something like “Testaments of Ilyich”?

– Agricultural cooperative “Pukhnovo”.

– What are you producing?

– We are currently looking for investors. The most valuable thing in Pukhnovo is land; it will always be profitable. I think that in Russia in a couple of years an agricultural boom will begin, people from cities will flock to the villages. But we seem to have digressed from the topic?

SPIDERS IN A JAR

- Why? The President of the VOB is a public figure, people should know how the leader of the fans lives. And there are still dark pages in your biography.

– Which ones, for example?

– In 2003, you were accused of robbery and attack on the leader of the Metal Corrosion group, Spider. How did it end?

– The prosecutor's office dropped all charges against me, admitting that they had gone too far. Today I am clean before the law and people. The story dragged on for five years, during which time the case was returned four times to clarify the charges, but in the end they could not incriminate me with anything. We couldn’t find anything to cling to.

-Have you made peace with the Spider?

“A year ago we should have met and discussed everything in private, but I must admit, I have no desire to see this person. When, because of a banal quarrel, one friend is ready to ruin the life of another, this, you see, is not normal. If I happen to meet Spider somewhere, I’ll shake his hand, no problem, but I’ll probably no longer be able to be friends and communicate as before.

– You spent a year in a pre-trial detention center?

- In “Matrosskaya Tishina”. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I’ll just say: a pre-trial detention center is not a test for the weak. I instantly matured, became tougher, more decisive, learned to stand up for my rights and say the word “no.” Now it’s useless to try to bend me or break me - it won’t work. Of course, prison is a powerful school of life, but I don’t advise anyone to rush to sit at this desk. In the detention center, by the way, they say that they have never had such a unique prisoner before, since I still maintain relations with the management of the pre-trial detention center and go there from time to time.

- Are you bored?

“Matrosskaya Tishina is undergoing renovations, and I want to negotiate with the local authorities to remove the unique Dynamo panels that have been preserved from the thirties of the last century. They hang on the walls in the administrative building of the pre-trial detention center and are in no way inferior to those that decorate the lobby of the Dynamo metro station. It's a shame if such good things go to waste. Just imagine how many people looked at these panels, what kind of energy comes from them... For almost two years I convinced the head of “Matrosskaya Tishina” Fikret Tagiyev and, it seems, he persuaded him. We have a good relationship, sometimes I even help the pre-trial detention center staff with football tickets. Do you know that the director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Yuri Kalinin, recently signed an order awarding me the medal “For Strengthening the Penitentiary System”? We do a lot of work with convicts, regularly take teams of fans to colonies, play with prisoners...

– The fact that the president of the VOB was imprisoned certainly adds weight to you in the eyes of ordinary fans? Like an authoritative guy.

– I never trumped with such things. If it were up to me, I would erase this page from my life. There's nothing to be proud of. The famous chanson group “Vorovaiki” wrote a song that they dedicated to me, and shot a video based on it, where this whole story is played out in an artistic form. A presentation is due to take place soon, I hope it will be the final chord, I will put an end to it and will no longer remember the Spider or anything connected with him.

Cheap thieves romance has never attracted me. So that your fingers fan out and snot bubbles. Not my style. And the fan world is far from the criminal one, they are like two poles. Another thing is that sometimes they forcefully try to drag us into different stories.

- That is?

– Let me remind you of the sensitive issue of tickets. When the VOB took away twenty thousand tickets to England, we ruined someone's business. If the tickets went to the box office, they would inevitably end up in the hands of speculators, who, according to the most conservative estimates, would make a million dollars. People from law enforcement agencies were involved in the scam. Having lost their money, they had a big grudge against us and began to settle scores. They went home to the leader of the Spartak "Phratria" Ivan Katanaev, known to many as a Battalion Combatant, and were drafted into the army, although Vanya was already 26 years old. I am not against defending the Motherland with a machine gun in my hands, but everything looked defiantly provocative, as if it were a measure of punishment, and not the fulfillment of a sacred duty.

-Did you interfere?

- Of course. Vanya served in the garrison for six months, and then we got him transferred to the internal troops, and now he is performing at the national team’s matches. By the way, the police tried to put pressure on Maxim Korotin from the army fan club after England, they put pressure on him in every possible way. And they didn’t give him any offense, they beat him back.

FACE WITH A SCAR

- Well, I see you have a scar on your nose...

“I’ve been boxing for three years.

– Do you want to say that you were injured in the ring?

- No, my nose was broken in a street fight, but that was a long time ago. In his youth, he sometimes got excited and got into trouble unnecessarily. Now I try to avoid conflict situations, although it doesn’t always work out. The last time a fight happened was in 2006 in Kyiv, when our Dynamo played there with a local one.

- Who will win?

“On the football field, the Ukrainians turned out to be stronger, but outside of it, we were stronger.”

– It seems that later you and the Caucasians waved in Petrovsky Park.

– This is already without my participation. Our guys didn’t share something with the amateur team “Vainakh”, I came to resolve the situation. We parted ways.

– Why did they threaten Igor Rabiner?

– Again you attribute the merits of others. My close friend and namesake turned to Rabiner when he drove into Dynamo for something unrelated, and offered to talk like a man. The letter was supported by many fans, and the journalist went to America instead of answering... Then the meeting did take place, and the conflict was extinguished. As with Vasya Utkin, who initially had a misunderstanding with Vanya-Kombat. In the end, we also got along.

- Why, by the way, are you Kamancha? Were there Indians in your family?

Remember the old Soviet film “The Leader of the Redskins” based on the stories of O’Henry? In 1993, we went on an away trip with Dynamo, and one of the guys called me Kamancha. Apparently, I was somewhat like the eccentric and restless boy from the movies. So the nickname stuck...

– Is it true that you are an assistant to State Duma deputy Abeltsev? The one who sometimes backs up his verbal arguments with his fists?

– This is the fourth convocation in a row. Sergei Nikolaevich is a serious man... I have been a member of the LDPR since 1998, and am listed as Vladimir Volfovich’s adviser on sports. He and I even have the same football preferences. Zhirinovsky has been a Dynamo fan since childhood; his entire office in the Duma is painted blue and white. But his son Igor Lebedev is an ardent Lokomotiv fan. And, by the way, largely thanks to the VIP boxes at the stadium in Cherkizovo. The first time Igor got there by accident, but then he became addicted and began going regularly. I was so carried away by the game that last season I sent a deputy request to the head coach why he did not release a player as a starter.

- It's funny. And what did Rakhimov answer?

– I’m not a fan of Loko, I didn’t really delve into the details. As for the LDPR, I don’t hide my sympathies. But I don’t impose them either. I can responsibly declare: VOB will never go into politics, we will not be able to be drawn into either the “Russian March” or any other. Although, for example, I personally do not share the migration policy of the Russian state in everything.

- “Have we come in large numbers here”?

– Let’s not get involved in the discussion of the topic, so as not to give anyone a reason to play the nationalist card with our hands. VOB will not become a blind kitten in other people's games, that's for sure.

– Are you ready to be a deputy, Alexander?

– If party comrades show trust. I think I have some experience. But it's too early to talk about it. I was elected president of the VOB for five years, and there is still a lot of work ahead.

– And opportunities to see a lot of VIP behind the scenes.

– I repeat, this is not the main thing in life. A year ago, Vitaly Mutko gave members of the VOB board special passes that allow them to go everywhere in order to quickly resolve issues that arise with the participation of fans. But I didn’t rush into any direction, did I? Even with the all-terrain vehicle, I went and bought a ticket to the fan stand. So I won’t fall for a VIP freebie, rest assured. If you just want to take a beautiful girl, like “Miss Dynamo” Katya Sudarikova, to a football match, to tease other men. But I think this is unlikely...

Now, together with a friend, I am restoring a temple in the Pskov region, which was used as a warehouse under the Bolsheviks. By the way, I’m building with my own money. I sent another twenty thousand books to the district library. Even though I am Kamancha, unlike the heroes of the film about the red-skinned leader, if something happens I will rush not to the Canadian border, but to the Pskov region. I will never get lost in Russia.

P.S.

The very first round of the Russian championship that started showed that it is too early for the leader of a multi-colored and variegated tribe of fans to dive into studying the nuances of the glamorous life of the inhabitants of VIP boxes. A fight between fans of Spartak and Zenit with the involvement of riot police confirmed the obvious: the VOB leadership really has a lot of work ahead of them...

The other day, a council of all significant associations of the Dynamo fan movement was held, as a result of which the following decision was made:

From this day on, Alexander Shprygin, due to loss of trust, no longer has the right to represent the interests of Dynamo fans. As the general director of Dynamo Moscow Football Club Fan Club LLC, he represents only himself and his personal interests.

For this reason, the Dynamo fan movement does not want to have anything to do with this person and leaves all organizations headed by him.

Dynamo movement: 9, Patriots, Capitals, OTF, Ultra, Internet, Old West.

Shprygin: An Extraordinary PSB Conference may be convened in the near future:

Today it became known that the Dynamo fan club announced its withdrawal from the All-Russian Fans Association. The head of the VOB, Alexander Shprygin, made an official statement on this matter in a conversation with a Soviet Sport correspondent.

“Today at the Dynamo office there was a meeting of the leaders of all the main groups of blue and white fans,” says Shprygin. – At the meeting, the issue of the further functioning of the Dynamo fans club was discussed. Since 2008, I have not been a representative of the executive management body of the fans club. However, until the last moment I remain a guide in the dialogue between fans and the club’s management. On February 20, the Founding Conference of the Dynamo Fan Club MOO was held, the president of which was elected Sergei Drozdov, who is a representative of the Dynamo movement in the VOB. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Sergei did not cope with his task - neither as the head of the Dynamo Design Bureau, nor as a representative of the movement in the VOB. The founding documents were not submitted to the Ministry of Justice; the club does not have a legal entity. All collegial governing bodies today are conceptual. I respect the opinion of Dynamo fans, I come from the club, it is dear to me. I have been an active participant in the Dynamo fan movement for more than 20 years. From 2002 to 2008 he was the head of KB Dynamo. And the way the question was raised, when colleagues expressed distrust, is a personal tragedy for me. During the 5 years of my presidency in the VOB, the issue of a vote of no confidence was raised many times, but from a legal point of view, the Conference elected me as leader. And as in the case of the so-called VOB revolution, it still did not become clear to me how I deceived the hopes of Dynamo fans.


“Nevertheless,” Shprygin continues, “if the decision on a vote of no confidence is made by a majority of votes, then as a self-respecting person I cannot but agree with it.” And I don’t see any further point in my participation in the governing bodies of the Dynamo fan movement. At the same time, I will always remain a devoted fan of the club and am ready to fully help by passing on my experience. I really hope that in the near future the movement of Dynamo fans will take into account the mistakes, form a single organization, register it legally in order to conduct a dialogue with the official bodies, and elect a worthy leader. A little time will pass and some nuances of the decision made will emerge. I can’t comment in detail, but I regret what happened.

— In addition to KB Dynamo, where I was employed, there is VOB, which is a very powerful organization in its structure, has a wide network of regional offices, is part of the RFU, has a voice at the Conference, and a place on the executive committee. VOB is an organization supported by the state; since 2007 we have been registered with the Ministry of Justice. According to the results of the meeting of fans with the then Prime Minister of the country V.V. Putin, representatives of the VOB in those cities where the 2018 World Cup will be held are involved in the work of regional organizing committees, and the VOB is a partner of the organizing committee of the 2018 World Cup. This is an established organization that is part of the country's football system. But when the VOB leaves the movement of my native Dynamo, which has been my stronghold all these years, I don’t see it possible for myself to count on the fact that I will continue to be the president of the organization for a long time. But I will in no way let down the people with whom I have worked all this time. All current activities of the VOB will continue in full, but I do not rule out that in the near future an Extraordinary Conference of the movement will be convened, which will attract fans from all over the country and where I will most likely announce my resignation from the post of president of the VOB. I would like for the VOB to become in the future what it is according to its Charter - a trade union that unites all fans of the country. I hope that in this case, representatives of fans of Spartak, CSKA and Zenit will restore their membership in the organization. The elections, like the last presidential elections of the RFU, will be held openly and democratically. Wherein I would not like people with extremist sentiments to take power in the organization in the future.