Unsportsmanlike conduct: is Fyodor Smolov facing a real prison sentence

The summer scandal surrounding Fyodor Smolov has taken a new turn — a criminal case has been opened against the ex-Krasnodar football player because of a fight in a "Coffee mania" that happened more than three months ago. According to RT, the victim was diagnosed with a fracture of the lower jaw and the wall of the eye socket, which could probably serve as the basis for launching a criminal investigation. What could threaten the former forward of the national team is in the Izvestia article.

Continues training

The information was officially confirmed to TASS by law enforcement agencies: "Following the results of the audit, it was decided to institute a criminal case against Smolov under Part 1 of Article 112 "Intentional infliction of moderate harm to health." According to her, Fedor faces up to three years in prison.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow reported that a preventive measure had been taken against Smolov in the form of an obligation to appear.

The footballer himself has not yet commented on the situation — he is currently preparing for the FONBET Cup of Russia game against Saturn as part of the Brock Boys. Dmitry Egorov, president of the media club, told Izvestia about this.

— Yes, Fedor continues to train, — said Egorov. — He plans to take the field in the match against Saturn, of which he is a graduate. We don't take in all the rumors that are around. They don't mean anything to us, because this story has been going on for a long time and, according to our information, at that time the parties agreed to reconciliation.

Egorov also added that Smolov remains a football player for the Browns.

— It seems to me that now these are just attempts by one of the parties to create additional information noise in the media. As long as there is no official ban, Fedor will play for us, and we will be very happy to see him," said the president of the club.

At the same time, businessman Andrei Popelukha, one of the victims of the fight with the football player, knows nothing about the criminal case.

— I haven't seen anything yet, I haven't familiarized myself with anything. I have not filed a police report, and I have no complaints against Fyodor Smolov," Popelukha told Sport24.

An old fight

Recall that the incident with Smolov's fight in the "Coffee Mania" occurred on May 28, but it became known about it only on July 5, when the leaked video got online. The footage shows Fedor in a group of friends arguing about something with two people, businessmen Popelukha and Vladimir Kuzminov, after which he swings at one and punches the other.

Later, the circumstances of the fight became known — it turned out that Smolov offered to close the account to all the guests of Kofemania as compensation for noisy behavior, but there was a misunderstanding with some of the visitors, which escalated into a scuffle.

Popelukha informed the Sport-Express in July that the conflict had been resolved.

— Personally, I did not write a statement, I have no complaints. There were apologies through lawyers. The media is trying to raise the issue that someone is extorting something. But I immediately said, "Fed, I have no complaints." We all grew up in the 90s, we all understand that.

Smolov himself publicly apologized and told about the blackmail, as a result of which the video of the incident was leaked.

— I want to apologize to those who witnessed my inappropriate behavior that morning. You can't fight and throw up your hands in a civilized society. From the very beginning, I wanted to contact only the victim, to compensate him for possible harm to his health, moral damage. But, unfortunately, this was not possible, because people began to appear whom I do not know, who are not in the video. They started threatening me, blackmailing me, extorting money, offering schemes that the laws do not provide for," the footballer said.

Because of the blackmail, Fyodor contacted the police, who replied that they would check him out. The incident with the fight was also promised to be checked, but at that time the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to initiate criminal proceedings due to the lack of corpus delicti. At the same time, it promised to continue the verification, which now seems to be completed.

"I think Smolov's chances of actual imprisonment are minimal,— lawyer Natalia Shatikhina told the Championship. In his case, it's a medium-gravity crime, not hooliganism. We (in the Kokorin-Mamaev case) had a combination of minor harm to health, for a reason I still don't understand, and hooliganism. But the composition of hooliganism was the hardest there. And here the parties can reconcile, and the case will be dismissed. But this circumstance is not rehabilitating. The accused will have to pay a certain amount, which the victim will name. The victim will express his consent to the termination of the criminal case, and that will be the end of it. The second option is if they don't reconcile. But even in this situation, there are not many chances for a real term.

Smolov recently told Izvestia in an interview that he is now considering moving to another country.