Russian national team footballer is banned in Russia for joining a "shabby" team from France

Former Spartak Moscow footballer Yevgeny Lovchev harshly criticised Russian national team midfielder Daler Kuzyaev, who signed a contract with French side Le Havre as a free agent. The bronze medallist of the 1972 Olympic Games called this decision of the former Zenit player a mistake.

Lovchev wrote about this angrily on his Telegram channel. He spoke out against the desire of Russian footballers to play in European championships, and described Kuzyaev's new team as "shabby", the transition to which cannot be considered a step forward.

"A dream is good, ambition is great, but I see this story as 'looking for the good from the bad'. In my opinion, this is a wrong decision - just like the transition from the best Russian club to a freelance French club. He didn't move to an average French club for money, he went to Tmutarakan for free to a shoddy team. Our country has made a good step forward, including in terms of infrastructure: excellent stadiums, hotels and training facilities. We don't have the strongest championship, it has its problems, but I would definitely not present Kuzyaev's move to Le Havre as something extraordinary and outstanding," Lovchev said.

Kuzyaev has been a member of Zenit for six years and won all the national trophies with the club. The 30-year-old also played 46 matches for the Russian national team.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Spartak Moscow midfielder Roman Zobnin complained that he might not play in international competitions for the rest of his career.

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