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Ukrainian Player Accused Of Match Fixing After Appearing To Celebrate Opponents' Goal

Ukrainian Player Accused Of Match Fixing After Appearing To Celebrate Opponents' Goal

A player in the Ukraine second tier was investigated after people thought he was celebrating an opponent's goal going in, but he denied it.

A player in Ukraine's second tier was investigated for match fixing, after claims that he appeared to celebrate after the opposition scored.

Kremin Kremenchuk travelled to take on rivals Uzhgorod at the beginning of October, in the Ukrainian Persha Liga, but it was a wasted trip for the visitors.

Having taken the extremely long trip from the centre of Ukraine to the west of the country, Kremenchuk went 1-0 down in the 65th minute.

The goal didn't look to have any controversy around it at first, as a cross from the right was turned in by Uzhgorod's Mykola Gayduchyk.

However, some people believed they spotted the visitor's number 18, Vitaliy Boyko lift his hands in celebration after the opening goal.

According to Ukrainian outlet Tribuna, the footage, was investigated by Ukrainian Association of Football’s (UAF) Ethics and Fair Play Committee for match fixing.

The player confirmed that he received a call from the committee as part of their investigation, but they decided that nothing was amiss with the goal.

Speaking to the local outlet, Boyko denied the allegations and said that he certainly wouldn't have travelled 20 hours in order to celebrate the opposition scoring.

"It’s you who decided that I’m happy about this goal," the accused told Tribuna.

"If you watch the full match, you can see that I put my hands up and get angry further.

The moment Boyko 'celebrated.' Image: Twitter
The moment Boyko 'celebrated.' Image: Twitter

"I was not happy about the goal, no. I was not in any way happy with the goal of Uzhgorod. How can a person who has traveled 20 hours on a bus rejoice at a goal from someone else's team?

"I watched the game in replay. Everyone has mistakes. Maybe fatigue was showing somewhere. We went to Uzhgorod for a victory, we had to take three points there. But football is such a game - we play one match well, the second we can fail. I don't even know what the reason is.

"Nobody in the team asked about my reaction to the goal from Uzhgorod. 

"They called from the FTC UAF. They said there were no questions, they watched the review of the match. 

Boyko, on the edge of the area, raises his hands in frustration. Image: Twitter
Boyko, on the edge of the area, raises his hands in frustration. Image: Twitter

"If you watch the full match, you can see from the other camera that I raise my hands up, and then start to drive my head to the sides - I lament how we could have missed this goal. And that's all, nothing more was said."

The hosts later doubled their lead through a penalty, with Viktor Ryashko converting from the spot in the 83rd minute, we assume Boyko didn't give it away, otherwise he probably would have questions to answer...

Featured Image Credit: Twitter

Topics: Football