"We want to stay in the RPL as a team, and then it doesn't depend on us"

Khimki football club has once again found itself in the center of a scandal this season. Since the end of 2024, players, coaches and staff have not been paid salaries. In April, the main squad almost boycotted an away match with Zenit St. Petersburg — the players did not go to training for two days and resumed them only after the visit of RPL President Alexander Alaev, who promised to assist in paying off debts. But with all the chronic financial difficulties, Khimki occupy the 12th place, which makes it possible to avoid relegation from the RPL without transitional matches. The Moscow Region team broke away from the junction zone by one point, and from the direct relegation zone by seven.

In an interview with Izvestia, Khimki midfielder Zelimkhan Bakayev explained how the team continues to score points, commented on the penalty kick of Argentine Lucas Vera in the last match with Rostov (1-1) and assessed the chances of avoiding relegation.

— Will Khimki remain in the RPL?

— How do I know (smiles)? God forbid they stay.

— At the expense of what?

— Preferably at the expense of your game.

— How can you explain the fact that, against the background of chronic unpaid salaries, Khimki are still staying out of the transition zone with a good chance of avoiding relegation from the RPL at the end of the season?

— We have a good team. And the coaches are good. We are working together with the coaching staff to show high-quality play in every match and achieve a positive result. We can do this through teamwork. Moreover, they could have scored more points — for example, in the last match against Rostov (1-1) they should have won. But the Almighty had his own plans, so the opponent equalized the score in the end.

— Lucas Vera also missed a penalty with the score 0-0.

— Yes, of course, it's a shame. But we continue to believe in Lucas as one of our leaders. Vera, we have a full-time penalty taker who has never missed a point before. This time, he shot above the Rostov goal. But which of us didn't miss? Cristiano Ronaldo missed, Messi missed. It's part of football. Lucas is a human being, just like the rest of us. And we all make mistakes.

— Have you decided for yourself what to do at the end of the season, will you look for another club?

— I haven't decided anything. I want to stay in the Premier League with Khimki and do my job. And then we'll see what to do next.

"I didn't think that the situation with Artiga's dismissal was possible"

Khimki football player Ilya Berkovsky — about the resignation of the head coach, the club's salary debts, the intervention of the RPL president in the situation and the struggle for survival in the elite

— In the next round, you can avoid direct relegation from the Russian Premier League if you draw with Orenburg on May 10. Is there a special mood for the match in this regard?

— We just want to win. And then we'll see.

— Do you believe that the club will solve its financial problems, will exist and will play in the RPL next season if you keep it on a sporting basis?

"I don't know anything." As a team, we want to stay in the RPL. And the rest doesn't depend on us anymore.

— How did the conversation with Alexander Alaev look from your side when he met with the team during its boycott of training?

— Let's not talk about it. This is already a hackneyed topic. In any case, we are grateful to him as a team. Because he came to training and it was obvious that he was trying to solve the problem. As a result, he did a lot for our team and our families. We are grateful to him for that — thank you very much.