Football image takes fresh blow over match-fixing claim

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The country's football image has suffered another blow after a Kaliningrad newspaper said that local club Baltika tried to fix a first division match against Chernomorets Novorossiisk to help avoid relegation. The paper said it had transcripts of taped telephone calls by Baltika boss Dmitry Chepel in which he allegedly discusses a $60,000 payment to Chernomorets and one of $400 to a referee to secure his team's victory. Baltika beat Chernomorets 1-0 on September 14 but are still in 20th place in the 22-strong division with five games left. "Football is a complete con," wrote the editor of the paper which is in the far west of the country. Baltika have denied the charges. Meanwhile in the capital, the Moscow Times reported problems in the Russian Premier League. Politicians from St Petersburg appealed to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov earlier this month to try to make sure that referees are fair to their home team Zenit. The St Petersburg club lead the league but are locked in a fierce title battle with two Moscow clubs, CSKA and Lokomotiv. Zenit lost valuable points, going down 2-1 at Shinnik Yaroslavl last month after the referee awarded a dubious penalty to the home side. The referee was later suspended by the league. The politicians fear there is a conspiracy to stop Zenit and that cash funded by Russian oligarchs is used to bribe referees. Russian football chiefs, however, say they are unaware of any corruption in the game or the letter to the Prime Minister. Reports of widespread corruption have been circulating in Russian football for years but they have been proved just once.