Torpedo was suspended from participating in the RPL due to match-fixing. What you need to know

Torpedo Moscow is suspended from participating in the Russian Premier League (RPL) next season. The team was punished for trying to arrange three match-fixing matches in the First League, where it took second place. A criminal case has been opened against two club executives, as well as one arbitrator suspected of taking bribes. What is known about the scandal in Russian football is in the Izvestia article.

How the Torpedo was punished

• In the already completed 2024/25 season, Torpedo Moscow, one of the oldest and most decorated clubs in Russia, played in the First League, the so—called second strongest division after the Russian Premier League (RPL). The team was tasked with taking first or second place in the standings in order to be promoted next season and return to the RPL two years later. It was also acceptable to take the third or fourth place, in which case matches are held with two RPL teams for the right to play in the tournament.

• Torpedo spent the whole season fairly smoothly, only briefly falling out of the top three at the beginning. From the 12th to the 34th rounds, it was always in the direct promotion zone, sometimes swapping places with Kaliningrad Baltika. Arsenal's failure partly helped this — the club was in the lead until the 14th round, but failed in the second half of the calendar and fell out of favour.

• As a result, Torpedo finished in second place and received a ticket to the RPL. The gap from the winner of the First League, Baltika, was four points, and the gap from Novorossiysk Chernomorets, which became the third, was one point. Taking into account the fact that Chernomorets has not passed the RPL licensing, the fourth and fifth teams have already received a chance for promotion this time.

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• However, Torpedo did not go on promotion. The Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU KDC) has decided to exclude the club from the list of RPL participants next season, as well as impose a fine of 5 million rubles. The reason was an attempt to arrange match-fixing in the First League.

• This is an unprecedented event for Russian football. In the past, various clubs that made their way into the RPL on a sporting basis were removed from the membership for one reason or another, mainly related to finances. However, never before has the club been suspended from participating in the top division due to match-fixing. Similar scandals occurred only in lower—status leagues - in 1996, Vladikavkaz's Iriston was withdrawn from the Second League, and in 2021, Chaika from Peschanokopsky was demoted from the First League.

• Now the question remains who will replace Torpedo among the 16 participants of the RPL. It can be Ural Yekaterinburg, who lost their play-off matches for promotion, and Orenburg, who took the penultimate place in the last RPL draw.

Who tried to arrange match fixing

• The fact that Torpedo may be involved in match-fixing became known at the end of the season, when the club's owner Leonid Sobolev and director Valery Skorodumov were detained in June. A criminal case has been opened against them under Part 2, Article 184 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Unlawful influence on the result of an official sports competition"). The maximum penalty is up to seven years in prison.

• According to the investigation, Torpedo's match-fixing was supposed to take place from March to May 2025, with at least three games in total. The defendants in the case offered the chief judge remuneration in excess of 1 million rubles for ensuring the victory of their team by awarding a penalty or removing an opponent.

• Referee Maxim Perezva came under suspicion. He served three Torpedo matches from March to May — with Ural Yekaterinburg (1:1), Rodina Moscow (0:0) and Shinnik Yaroslavl (1:0). It is noteworthy that only in one of them Torpedo won. However, during the interrogation, Perezva stated that he had not accepted the offer of bribery from the leadership of Torpedo and had not provided him with assistance. As a result, the law enforcement agencies did not charge him with any charges, and for next season he was included in the reserve list of RPL referees.

• On July 10, the RFU KDK confirmed that these three matches were the reason for the exclusion of Torpedo from the RPL. For attempting to arrange match—fixing, Sobolev was banned from any football-related activity for 10 years, and Skorodumov was banned for five years.

Were match fixing organized

• It is important to note that Torpedo was excluded from the list of RPL participants due to attempts by the management to influence three matches of the First League, which eventually took place in a fair fight. However, the investigation is ongoing, and at least one match may still be considered contractual.

• On July 9, the RFU reported that the police had detained referee Bogdan Golovko. He was the chief referee in the last round match against the Naberezhnye Chelny KAMAZ, which eventually ended with a score of 1:1. The RFU participates in the investigative actions in the Torpedo case and assists in the investigation, but does not disclose the details of the case. In total, according to some information, nine arbitrators are under suspicion of accepting bribes.

Torpedo and its fans should not suffer because of individuals."

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• The match between Torpedo and KAMAZ really attracted the attention of experts because of doubts about its fair outcome. Then Golovko missed two penalties against the Moscow club. Both episodes were later analyzed by the RFU Expert and Judicial Commission. In one case, she acknowledged the referee's correctness, and in the second, she stated his mistake — he should have awarded a penalty for a foul by defender Gleb Shevchenko in his penalty area.

• Due to the fact that Torpedo achieved a draw, it retained second place in the standings. In case of a loss, it would have finished the season in third place, losing to Chernomorets. Interestingly, the Novorossiysk club was not licensed on the day of the end of the season in the First League, that is, Torpedo, and without the influence of the referee on the result, would still have ended up in the RPL.