The uncertainty at Metalist Kharkiv continues. On April 18 the Ukrainian Premier League team—they are currently tenth on the table—announced that they had fired head coach Aleksandr Sevidov.
The move was made after Metalist suffered heavy defeats in recent weeks—a 5-0 derby loss against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on April 16, and an 8-1 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk on April 1.
Following the game against Shakhtar, Tribuna reported that head coach Sevidov was taken to hospital. Sevidov then missed the derby against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, which ended in the above-mentioned 5-0 defeat.
Matchday.ua reported that sporting director Aleksandr Boytsan flew to Moscow to convene with Metalist’s controversial owner Sergey Kurchenko. Kurchenko is currently wanted for on corruption charges, as the businessman was closely associated to the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, and therefore resides in Russian exile. Yet it appears that he still remains in control of his club.
Sevidov meanwhile learned about his dismissal while being in hospital where Tribuna reached the coach for a comment. “I am dismissed? The club must comment on the situation. I am in hospital for treatment. As you can see my health does not permit me to work as a coach at the moment.”
Yet the situation became even more bizarre as Tribuna would then state that the management had not only dismissed Sevidov, but was indeed in the process of firing all players from the first squad as well, effectively dissolving the club.
According to Tribuna, Metalist will dissolve the first team, and then finish the season with the second team under the leadership of youth team coach Aleksandr Prizetko. It has since emerged that the reason for these drastic measures are suspicions of match-fixing.
Ukrainian journalist Roman Bebekh told Matchday.ua that the match against Dnipro especially was under suspicion. Bebekh also claimed that Sevidov “knew what was going on”, and that his condition was due to the fact that he was under stress from the knowledge that his team had to throw the above-mentioned matches.
Bebekh also stated that one of the Metalist players told him before the Dnipro match that “they can fix the amount of goals needed for any bet.”
As a result of this scandal Metalist have now purged players from the first team of the club, and named 23 youth team players to the squad, which will face Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk for the first time this weekend.
Match-fixing is sadly a common phenomenon in Ukrainian football, as players from financially weaker clubs are forced to supplement their wages by throwing games for betting companies.
Most clubs in Ukraine either turn a blind eye to the problem, or even endorse it, as they can supplement the club’s budget by selling games. But Metalist, along with Zorya Luhansk, had already suspended players involved in match-fixing last December. Hence, club officials must have felt that the widespread culture of match-fixing among its players was unfixable and that the club needed to be rebuilt.
But together with the financial problems plaguing the club Ukraine’s biggest could seize operations at the end of the season. Making it likely that Kharkiv—Ukraine’s second largest city—will be without Premier League football next season.
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
April 19, 2016
February 05, 2016
PartyPoker to return to 21 online gambling markets under GVC
PartyPoker returns to 21 new online gambling markets including jurisdictions it exited as part of its “volume to value” strategy.
PartyPoker has begun operating in a number of new national markets after GVC Holdings completed its deal to buy bwin.party.
Bwin’s online poker room has written to affiliates asking them to estimate the number of first time depositors they anticipate in each market.
New sign-ups from 18 countries in EU and South America served by bwin.Party were blocked in April 2013. The decision was likely a mix of regulatory concern and simple cost analysis. The remaining countries may represent markets either too small or simply unprofitable for bwin.party to maintain operations in.
Many EU countries on the list curbed or prohibited online poker such as Greece, Poland, Romania, Cyprus and Hungary. Finland and Serbia, on the other hand, had a small regulated online poker markets.
South American countries — Argentina, Brazil and Colombia — were also blocked same with three former Soviet Republics Armenia, Belarus and the Ukraine.
Many of the markets that PartyPoker is re-entering are expected to introduce online poker licensing systems such as Colombia, which opened a consultation on launching a regulated online gambling market. Brazil has approved a legislative attempt to legalize online sports betting, casino and bingo games last year.
Bwin.party group head of partypoker and Cashcade Tom Waters confirmed the news to EGR, saying that it had re-opened in a “limited number of regulated territories” following a “thorough review” of PartyPoker’s operations.
“Along with other operators in the industry, we do accept gameplay from customers based in yet to be regulated territories where customers are not prevented from accessing online gaming products,” said Waters. “We have re-opened registration for a number of markets and could potentially look to do more if the commercials support it.”
PartyPoker has begun operating in a number of new national markets after GVC Holdings completed its deal to buy bwin.party.
Bwin’s online poker room has written to affiliates asking them to estimate the number of first time depositors they anticipate in each market.
New sign-ups from 18 countries in EU and South America served by bwin.Party were blocked in April 2013. The decision was likely a mix of regulatory concern and simple cost analysis. The remaining countries may represent markets either too small or simply unprofitable for bwin.party to maintain operations in.
Many EU countries on the list curbed or prohibited online poker such as Greece, Poland, Romania, Cyprus and Hungary. Finland and Serbia, on the other hand, had a small regulated online poker markets.
South American countries — Argentina, Brazil and Colombia — were also blocked same with three former Soviet Republics Armenia, Belarus and the Ukraine.
Many of the markets that PartyPoker is re-entering are expected to introduce online poker licensing systems such as Colombia, which opened a consultation on launching a regulated online gambling market. Brazil has approved a legislative attempt to legalize online sports betting, casino and bingo games last year.
Bwin.party group head of partypoker and Cashcade Tom Waters confirmed the news to EGR, saying that it had re-opened in a “limited number of regulated territories” following a “thorough review” of PartyPoker’s operations.
“Along with other operators in the industry, we do accept gameplay from customers based in yet to be regulated territories where customers are not prevented from accessing online gaming products,” said Waters. “We have re-opened registration for a number of markets and could potentially look to do more if the commercials support it.”
November 07, 2014
Russian Online Poker To Be A Victim Of Ukraine Conflict?
In June 2009, the Russian Federation ordered the Sports Ministry to remove poker from its national sports registry, and since then the government has intermittently ordered Internet Service Providers to block online gambling websites from the country. Recently, however, Russian authorities signaled a U-turn in its negative approach towards iGaming after it requested the Russian Ministries of Finance, Economics and Justice to prepare a report on possible legalization, but now the prospects for online poker regulation appears to have dimmed once more following the heightened tensions between Russia and The West following the Ukraine Crisis which began on 21 February 2014.
Russian online poker a $150m industry
Russia is a country heavily reliant on the revenues generated from its energy sector, and in 2012 oil and gas accounted for 16% of the country’s GDP, around half its federal budget, and 70% of total exports. Therefore, its not difficult to see how online poker regulation could significantly impact the country’s economic outlook, especially with the industry predicted to generate up to 3 billion roubles ($87 million) in its first year of operation, rising to 5 billion roubles ($146 million) by year four.
With proposed amendments to the law suggesting a competitive taxation regime of 20% on a company’s gross gaming revenues and 13% on withdrawals made by poker players from their accounts, the government could stand to collect more than half a billion dollars in tax revenues over the next five years. Interestingly, chief researcher at the Centre for Tax Policy Research Institute of the Ministry of Finance, Vladimir Bauer, has indicated online poker would likely be categorized as an “intellectual and commercial game” so that it could be taxed as an electronic service.
Online poker legalization essential
Last month, a government ministries meeting concluded legalization of Russia’s online poker market was essential, with all arguments related to security and public safety subsequently dismissed. It was then decided the country’s interests could best be served by opening the industry to Western iGaming operators, and introducing a system whereby operators were required to store their customers’ personal data on servers hosted within Russia.
The country currently restricts all its gambling activities to five established gambling zones where casinos are permitted, but legislators even seemed positive towards allowing online poker to be offered outside of these far flung corners of the federation.
Online poker a victim of geopolitics?
While the Ukraine Crisis has been raging since February, recently the conflict involving Russia and The West has heightened following the introduction of a wave of sanctions against Russian individuals and businesses designed to impose a high cost on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Given the current climate with The West, which threatens to draw a cold war era type “iron curtain” across Europe, it has become increasingly unlikely the Russian parliament will react positively to any new bill which would give Western businesses access to Russian online poker players. A more likely scenario may now involve legislators restricting online licenses to just existing domestic casino operators already operating inside Russia.
No real alternative to Western poker rooms
Although sending a strong message out to its political opponents, the move to exclude Western operators from Russia could ultimately be self-defeating in the absence of any real home grown competitor. Outside of the country, ex-Soviet Republic, Georgia, may represent the best option to bring online poker to Russia, with its poker site Adjarabet currently ranked on PokerScout‘s ‘Online Poker Traffic Report’ in 10th place with 1,000 cash game players over a seven-day-period, and Europe-Bet in 22nd place with 350 players.
Just like Ukraine, however, Russia has extremely hostile relations with Georgia and in 2008 it invaded South Ossetia in the north of the country, and has continued to occupy the region ever since. Creating “frozen conflicts” is widely seen as a tactic Russia employs in order to destabilize former USSR neighbors and keep them in its orbit of influence. Therefore, it’s anyone’s guess how long the stand-off between the West and Russia will last, and at which point a regulated online poker market may see the light of day in Russia.
Russian online poker a $150m industry
Russia is a country heavily reliant on the revenues generated from its energy sector, and in 2012 oil and gas accounted for 16% of the country’s GDP, around half its federal budget, and 70% of total exports. Therefore, its not difficult to see how online poker regulation could significantly impact the country’s economic outlook, especially with the industry predicted to generate up to 3 billion roubles ($87 million) in its first year of operation, rising to 5 billion roubles ($146 million) by year four.
With proposed amendments to the law suggesting a competitive taxation regime of 20% on a company’s gross gaming revenues and 13% on withdrawals made by poker players from their accounts, the government could stand to collect more than half a billion dollars in tax revenues over the next five years. Interestingly, chief researcher at the Centre for Tax Policy Research Institute of the Ministry of Finance, Vladimir Bauer, has indicated online poker would likely be categorized as an “intellectual and commercial game” so that it could be taxed as an electronic service.
Online poker legalization essential
Last month, a government ministries meeting concluded legalization of Russia’s online poker market was essential, with all arguments related to security and public safety subsequently dismissed. It was then decided the country’s interests could best be served by opening the industry to Western iGaming operators, and introducing a system whereby operators were required to store their customers’ personal data on servers hosted within Russia.
The country currently restricts all its gambling activities to five established gambling zones where casinos are permitted, but legislators even seemed positive towards allowing online poker to be offered outside of these far flung corners of the federation.
Online poker a victim of geopolitics?
While the Ukraine Crisis has been raging since February, recently the conflict involving Russia and The West has heightened following the introduction of a wave of sanctions against Russian individuals and businesses designed to impose a high cost on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Given the current climate with The West, which threatens to draw a cold war era type “iron curtain” across Europe, it has become increasingly unlikely the Russian parliament will react positively to any new bill which would give Western businesses access to Russian online poker players. A more likely scenario may now involve legislators restricting online licenses to just existing domestic casino operators already operating inside Russia.
No real alternative to Western poker rooms
Although sending a strong message out to its political opponents, the move to exclude Western operators from Russia could ultimately be self-defeating in the absence of any real home grown competitor. Outside of the country, ex-Soviet Republic, Georgia, may represent the best option to bring online poker to Russia, with its poker site Adjarabet currently ranked on PokerScout‘s ‘Online Poker Traffic Report’ in 10th place with 1,000 cash game players over a seven-day-period, and Europe-Bet in 22nd place with 350 players.
Just like Ukraine, however, Russia has extremely hostile relations with Georgia and in 2008 it invaded South Ossetia in the north of the country, and has continued to occupy the region ever since. Creating “frozen conflicts” is widely seen as a tactic Russia employs in order to destabilize former USSR neighbors and keep them in its orbit of influence. Therefore, it’s anyone’s guess how long the stand-off between the West and Russia will last, and at which point a regulated online poker market may see the light of day in Russia.
April 03, 2014
Russia explores Crimean gaming zone options
Russian officials are examining proposals to create a gambling zone in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed from Ukraine, according to sources quoted in Bloomsberg. Officials reportedly discussed the option with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, while Russia’s ministries of economy, finance and regional development have been given an April 15 deadline to present a plan for the gambling project with spending and revenue estimates. With the running a fiscal deficit of around $1.5bn this year, Russia is said to be exploring ways in which to make Crimea less reliant on the state budget.
April 24, 2013
Bwin.party look to withdraw from 18 countries.
Bwin.party have announced they are blocking players from 18 countries within the EU and also South America. Those countries involved are Greece, Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Finland, Serbia, Armenia, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Argentina, Brazil and finally Colombia.
The move was announced to affiliates by the company on an email on Friday 19th April.
On the email it said that from the 30th April no new singups will be accepted from those countries and also there was a request that all marketing material aimed at those countries be removed. However all existing accounts will remain open, and affiliate commission to those accounts will continue to be paid.
It is thought the move is connected with those countries mentioned looking to reduce or prohibit online gambling within their borders in the future along with the commercial aspect that those mentioned are small in operating value and allows bwin.party to focus their efforts on more lucrative markets such as the US and more recognised and profitable regions such as the UK and Spain.
The move was announced to affiliates by the company on an email on Friday 19th April.
On the email it said that from the 30th April no new singups will be accepted from those countries and also there was a request that all marketing material aimed at those countries be removed. However all existing accounts will remain open, and affiliate commission to those accounts will continue to be paid.
It is thought the move is connected with those countries mentioned looking to reduce or prohibit online gambling within their borders in the future along with the commercial aspect that those mentioned are small in operating value and allows bwin.party to focus their efforts on more lucrative markets such as the US and more recognised and profitable regions such as the UK and Spain.
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