Andrey Vatutin: I’d call the decision a paradox

The CEO of our club Andrey Vatutin commented on the decision by the inspector of the final series of the Russian championship Game 3 and the Department of Superleague, taken after the protest by CSKA.

“I would call the decision a paradox, - Vatutin said. And the interpretation of the word will be far from a good meaning. I can not call it a triumph of common sense. During the discussion, which was attended by members of the Department, referees, game commissioner, inspector and the representatives of the clubs, the referees’ and commissioner’s mistakes were recognized as well as ugly kludges by the timer and the scorekeeper. At the same time, the result was left in place, without further explanation. In fact: our claim deemed fair, but the replay of the game for some reason was not been appointed. The decision to leave the result in place is final and is not the subject to appeal. So we can not do anything about it. As for the decision of the Department on punishments, we have the right to appeal it within 72 hours. We believe the punishment do not correspond the seriousness of the misconducts. This was big professional mistakes. Russian Championship playoffs should be played without these scandals, and the level of refereeing must correspond the level of players and coaches. In addition, we are waiting for final decision by the Department on the technical foul given to Sergio Scariolo, which was not mentioned in the official protocol but there is a report by referee Sergei Mikhailov.

We accept the necessity to continue the final series. The team is preparing to re-visit Khimki in the normal mode, and I hope CSKA fans will be with us in these crucial moments of the season”.