Russia bought all the matches at the 2018 World Cup: ex-player of the Russian national team provoked a huge scandal

Former Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk and Manchester United footballer Andrei Kanchelskis has sparked a scandal after claiming that Russia bribed its opponents at the 2018 World Cup, where it reached the quarter-finals. The former Russian national team striker singled out the confrontation with Spain in the first round of the playoffs.

"At the World Cup, we were pulled by the ears. Plus, who did we play with there? Uruguay, who took us out. With the Spaniards, who played incomprehensibly. It was a very strange game. Believe me, over time, this foam will come out. Why should we support Cherchesov? For buying everything at the World Cup? We bought all the games. Don't you know that? Do you think the King of Spain just flew in for nothing?" - Kanchelskis said in an interview with the propaganda TV channel Match TV.

These words provoked an angry reaction from many experts. For example, former Spartak player Anzor Kavazashvili accused the native of Kirovohrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) of working for Western intelligence services."Today, when a military operation is underway (the Russian Federation shamefully calls the war in Ukraine an operation - Ed.) and the whole world is united against Russia, a man speaks dirty words about our football. And he played for a long time in the UK, which supports the Nazi regime in Ukraine. And someone can ask the question: my dear, did you play football there or did you cooperate with the special services?" - said the former goalkeeper.

For his part, the honorary president of the Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, called Kanchelskis' words nonsense. "I have not read this interview. But it seems to me that this is complete nonsense. It turns out that the Spaniards were bought so that they wouldn't fight? And Uruguay was also bought when the Uruguayans won 3-0? No, this is some nonsense. You don't buy matches at this level," Zhukov said.

And former Spartak Moscow footballer Evgeny Lovchev demanded evidence from Kanchelskis. "He has to prove it, otherwise he should keep quiet. All the games at the World Cup are bought... What is he talking about? He's a great footballer, I don't want to say anything bad about him. But when it comes to such things, you have to prove and fight for the purity of football," he stressed.

Recall that at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Russian national team defeated Spain in the 1/8 finals in a penalty shootout. In the group stage, the representatives of the aggressor country beat Saudi Arabia (5-0), Egypt (3-1) and lost to Uruguay (0-3). In the quarter-finals, the Russians lost to Croatia on penalties.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, former Russian national team player Andrei Kanchelskis named the date when teams from Russia will return to FIFA and UEFA tournaments.

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