Summary
22 March 2013
Russian football officials have fined a leading Chechen club, Terek Grozny, after one of its keenest fans, the Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, took over the public address system to shout abuse at the referee during a home game.
Reporter:
Tom Esslemont
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Report
There can't be many parts of the world where the president takes to the loudspeaker during a football match to express his dismay. In the Chechen capital Grozny, everything is a little different.
The president is also the city football club's biggest fan. And from the stands of Terek Grozny's stadium, shortly after the team's captain had been sent off in last Sunday's match, Ramzan Kadyrov grasped the microphone. He called the referee corrupt and said he was a donkey.
It didn't achieve much. The match was a nil-all draw and now the club will have to fork out a hefty fine - the equivalent of $3,200. The fine was doubled because after the match the strongman leader spent a few minutes in the dressing room with the referee, demanding an explanation, while his security guards kept the football officials at bay.
Mr Kadyrov, who used to be Terek Grozny's president, is not the one being directly penalised. Instead it is the club that is picking up the bill.
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Vocabulary
- dismay
feeling of disappointment and surprise
- sent off
told to leave the football pitch because of doing something that is not allowed
- grasped
tightly held
- corrupt
dishonest/not playing by the rules
- nil-all draw
no goals were scored by either team
- to fork out
to pay money, although they do not want to
- hefty
large
- at bay
under control
- penalised
punished/forced to pay
- picking up the bill
having to pay
