Sion - Spartak controversy

Subject:  Sion's "protest "
   Date:  Fri, 03 Oct 1997 10:10:31 -0400
   From:  Stan Markin 
     To:  colm@z-axis.com
     CC:  spartak@isfa.com, russian-news@isfa.com, fclub@ntv-plus.ru, 
          oxana@quark.lu.se

TO: UEFA, Schweizerischer Fussballverband, FC Sion, Russian Football
Union.

                     O P E N   L E T T E R
                  of Russian Teams Supporters

Dear Sirs,

Being Spartak Moscow supporters, we'd like to express a peer
indignation of all the Russian supporters astounded by unfair play on
the FC Sion representatives part.  They have made a protest to UEFA
that the goals on the Lokomotiv stadium was too small for their UEFA
Cup match vs Spartak. We cannot qualify the attempt as normal
competetive. At the Lokomotiv stadium, there were played many Eurocups
matches as well as Russian U-21 team games, and nobody has ever
noticed any inadequacies. Moreover, the true goal height is just a few
cm below regulation height, which is permissible. According to the
rules, FC Sion people should have pointed out the possible
inadequacies to UEFA representative the day before the game, or the
morning of the game day, but nay, UEFA delegate was doing his
measurement exercises in front of 12,000 crowd sitting in the rain,
the match was delayed by half an hour!  We understand there are some
inner problems within FC Sion nowadays, but using such unfair methods
of winnig is just a simlpe way of showing no respect towards soccer
community. We do hope that the FC Sion protest will be dismissed, and
the club itself will be fined instead.

Also, I'd like to cite the most popular Russian sports newspaper,
Sport-Express:

"RUSSIA IS HUMBLED ONCE AGAIN" 
------------------------------

"Millions of Russians witnessed a humiliating scene at the Lokomotiv
stadium before UEFA Cup first round second leg match
Spartak-Sion. Italian Paolo Casarin, UEFA match delegate, had been
measuring the goals height for 25 minutes, instead of beginning the
game, or canceling it." "The UEFA delegate was led by Swiss side which
was pursuing their own ends, and he was asked to check the goals 10
minutes before the kick-off, not 10 hours before as required by
regulations. To please the Swiss, they demonstrated defiance towards
12 thousand crowd that was waiting for the game to begin sitting in
the poring rain, towards TV audience, and towards Spartak players who
were being in the dark about what is happening on the field." "The
25-minute procedure at Lokomotiv is another humiliation of Russian
 football and its supporters -- one after making a mockery of our
national team in Sofia and Alania in Budapest. People from the West
have shown once again that they can treat us like second-rate people,
feeling no counteraction. We have already swallowed slaps from the
Czech referee in Sofia and from Maltese one in Budapest. Now the Swiss
boxed our ears in Moscow. Wait for another?"

23 Russian Football Supporters:

Mikhail M. Dryomin 
Spartak Supporter & Mailing List Owner, Russia

Vasily A. Migulin 
Graduate Student, Emory University, USA

Evgeni Poliakov
Graduate Student at New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA

Stan Markin 

Aleksei V. Gribenko, Graduate Student
Texas Tech University
Department of Chemistry&Biochemistry
Lubbock, Texas 79409

Vadim Sapozhnikov 

Anton V. Tchernjavsky
Project Director
Kaiser Permanente International
Moscow Office, Russia

Leonid Pugachev 

Sergey Lunev,
Moscow Center of SPARC Technology, software designer

Michail Reibarkh 

Alex 

Popov Andrey 
Company "R-Style"

Smirnov Michail
Cabletron Systems

Reznikov Artyom 

Molchanov Vladimir 

Igor Rabiner 
"Sport - Express" Daily

Komlyakov Oleg 
"Demos"

Gruzdev Andrey 

Igor Dubrovsky
Graduate Student, Cal State University Fullerton,
CA 92867, USA
igord@earthlink.net

Gennady Kozlov, Graduate Student
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403

Alexandre Makarov 

Sergey Nikitin 

Alexander Belousov