"Maybe Karasev didn't pronounce the letter "d" in childhood"

The players of Dynamo Moscow in the last 24th round of the Russian Football Championship unexpectedly lost points in an away match with FC Pari Nizhny Novgorod (1:1), who had previously lost four games in a row. Moreover, the blue and white could have been defeated altogether if their goalkeeper Andrei Lunev had not beaten off a penalty in the last minutes. And on Wednesday, Marcel Lichka's wards will face the return match of the Russian Cup RPL semi-final against CSKA. The first one was lost with a score of 1:2. Meanwhile, another recent defeat by the Army in the championship (1:3) led to a judicial scandal — Dmitry Gafin, chairman of the Dynamo Board of Directors, criticized the work of referee Sergey Karasev, reminding that he constantly makes mistakes against his team. In an interview with Izvestia, Gafin commented on the recent failures of Dynamo, spoke about his relationship with Karasev and refereeing in the RPL.

— Some, including me, considered Pari Nizhny Novgorod the main candidate for relegation from the RPL after a series of defeats by this team. Doesn't it feel like the Dynamo players felt the same way, judging by how they lost points in the game against Paris NN and could have lost if the opponent had scored a penalty at the end of the match?

— I can say that dedication really wasn't enough to win the match in Nizhny Novgorod. And I would also like to note that I wish Pari NN to stay in the RPL. We have sincere sympathies both for this club and for this wonderful, hospitable city.

— 24 rounds have been held in the current championship. A year ago, it was in this segment that Dynamo began its winning streak, which almost led to the championship. Do you see the prerequisites for a repeat of that story now?

— I believe that our team has a very serious potential. Now we need to get together, work on the mistakes and try to win every next match.

— The Russian Football Federation's ESC has recognized as erroneous the decision of referee Sergey Karasev not to remove CSKA player Kirill Glebov in the match with Dynamo. You have repeatedly noted that this referee judges your team poorly. Is there a tendency and antipathy towards the club?

— There is definitely a trend. As for the antipathy, you'd better ask him or the judicial leadership. Why could the antipathy have appeared? I don't have an answer. Maybe he has an aversion to blue and white colors. Maybe he didn't pronounce the letter "d" as a child. Maybe something else. I have no idea.

— Are there any other judges to whom you have the same questions as to Karasyov?

— We understand situations when there are some judicial errors. But when they are regular and systematic, it leads to certain thoughts and harms not only us, but also the judges themselves, as well as the image of the RPL, RFU, and so on. No one is interested in having scandals repeated from time to time.

— How satisfied are you with Danil Glebov's performance after his transfer to Dynamo?

— Regarding the selection of the squad and other things that directly concern the players, it is better for you to ask questions to the head coach.
We know that Danil Glebov is a football player who has serious experience in the RPL and a set of football qualities. The task of the coaching staff is to integrate him into the team and reveal all his strengths in a way that benefits our team and leads to successful results.