MOSCOW, August 19, Andrey Mikhailov. Assistant head coach » Zenit «William de Oliveira, in a conversation with, came to the defense of the Blue-White-Blue footballer Claudinho, who, after the match with Khimki, spoke obscenely to the reserve referee, for which he risks getting disqualified.
Zenit on Sunday played a draw on the road with Khimki near Moscow (1:1) in the fifth round match of the Russian Premier League (RPL). As part of the guests, the best assistant of this season, Wendel, missed the meeting due to injury. In the first half, the championship's top scorer, Maxim Glushenkov, suffered a broken arm. After the end of the game, Claudinho spoke obscenely in Russian to the reserve referee. If this incident is reviewed by the control and disciplinary committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU KDK), the Brazilian may be disqualified and miss the game with Spartak.
““We’ll see, it’s too early to talk about it,” Oliveira said, answering the question whether Zenit, if necessary, is ready to play in the sixth round of the RPL against Spartak without the trio Wendel — Glushenkov — Claudinho. — Game with «Spartak in a week, a lot can happen.»
“As for the possible disqualification of Claudinho, in this case the entire championship needs to be disqualified,” noted the Zenit coach.
Zenit, after five rounds, ranks first in the RPL standings, gaining 13 points. In the sixth round, on August 24, the St. Petersburg team will meet at home with Spartak, which is in fourth position with 10 points.