Editor-in-chief of Romanian newspaper “Prosport” Dorin Chiotea:
“We know how the real Belarus national team can play. I can’t believe that your full-backs could be so weak”, - said the editor-in-chief of the leading Romanian sports edition in his interview with ERB. Why are you sure that something “is wrong” with the Saturday’s match? Did you watch the game?
— The idea about a “bribe” appeared because of the incredibly poor performance Belarusians showed in the match with Bulgarians. They played really well against Romanians here in Bucharest. And they did nothing of the kind in the match with Bulgaria. The match was broadcasted by the second Romanian Channel and I watched it. I personally think that it’s very strange that Belarusian full-backs and half-backs were so weak.
The Belarusian team is very good. Vasil Hamutouski is considered to be a very good player here. We also think good of Alyaksandr Hleb and his brother. So we did not expect such a failure in the match with Bulgaria. It was a strange match. I saw that good players were playing in a very bad way. Maybe they got blinded or had a bad day. I can’t guess it. By the way, even a Bulgarian sports agency distributed the version about a bribe.
— Is there any proof of the bribe?
— I don’t think that a coach or a football player would take the risk of participating in it. You know, Eastern European football if full of speculation. Even in Romania. We suspect many matches of the Romanian Championship too. But I do not know Belarusian managers and coaches very well. But I’m sure nobody would leave some evidence of a bribe even if it happened in Belarus. Of course I don’t have any proof.
The only proof is the match itself. It was a very intriguing match. Let’s call it intriguing. I don’t think that Bulgaria could have become strong in a few months. They have a few good players. But I think they are not strong enough to defeat Belarus like that.
We know that the aim of your national team is to get to the finals of the European Championship 2012. I think neither Bulgaria nor Belarus have enough money to pay for such speculations. But I think Belarusians will be interested in the match with Romania on September 8. I think Romania will defeat Belarus but it won’t be that easy.
— Do you know that the Belarusian Football Association is going to lodge a complaint about libel?
— Somebody working for the Belarusian Association of Football phoned me yesterday and asked my opinion about it. The Belarusian Football Association can sue us. But we are not afraid of it; we have encountered situations like that many times. We just printed the idea expressed by Bulgarian mass media. We saw the match. And we are not fools as some Belarusian managers might think
By the way it’s not clear what is better: the fact that Belarusians sold the match or played like that without any bribe.
— The idea about a “bribe” appeared because of the incredibly poor performance Belarusians showed in the match with Bulgarians. They played really well against Romanians here in Bucharest. And they did nothing of the kind in the match with Bulgaria. The match was broadcasted by the second Romanian Channel and I watched it. I personally think that it’s very strange that Belarusian full-backs and half-backs were so weak.
The Belarusian team is very good. Vasil Hamutouski is considered to be a very good player here. We also think good of Alyaksandr Hleb and his brother. So we did not expect such a failure in the match with Bulgaria. It was a strange match. I saw that good players were playing in a very bad way. Maybe they got blinded or had a bad day. I can’t guess it. By the way, even a Bulgarian sports agency distributed the version about a bribe.
— Is there any proof of the bribe?
— I don’t think that a coach or a football player would take the risk of participating in it. You know, Eastern European football if full of speculation. Even in Romania. We suspect many matches of the Romanian Championship too. But I do not know Belarusian managers and coaches very well. But I’m sure nobody would leave some evidence of a bribe even if it happened in Belarus. Of course I don’t have any proof.
The only proof is the match itself. It was a very intriguing match. Let’s call it intriguing. I don’t think that Bulgaria could have become strong in a few months. They have a few good players. But I think they are not strong enough to defeat Belarus like that.
We know that the aim of your national team is to get to the finals of the European Championship 2012. I think neither Bulgaria nor Belarus have enough money to pay for such speculations. But I think Belarusians will be interested in the match with Romania on September 8. I think Romania will defeat Belarus but it won’t be that easy.
— Do you know that the Belarusian Football Association is going to lodge a complaint about libel?
— Somebody working for the Belarusian Association of Football phoned me yesterday and asked my opinion about it. The Belarusian Football Association can sue us. But we are not afraid of it; we have encountered situations like that many times. We just printed the idea expressed by Bulgarian mass media. We saw the match. And we are not fools as some Belarusian managers might think
By the way it’s not clear what is better: the fact that Belarusians sold the match or played like that without any bribe.
