Artem Gagarin: "Kryvbas" has 30 football players, but this situation happened to only one. So maybe the problem is not in the Club?

Artem Gagarin, the vice-president of Kryvyi Rih "Kryvbas", answered the questions of Sport Express. The most relevant moments of the conversation are for your attention.

- Artem Serhiyevich, I would like to hear your opinion regarding the situation with Timur Stetskov and whether the club reacted too harshly to it. 

- Unfortunately, this happens in football and not only in Kryvbas, but everyone's situations are different. This is bad practice if it happens systematically. But I would like to note that we have 30 football players in the club, and this situation happened to only one, yes, maybe the problem is not in the club? I understand that usually the football community takes the side of football players, but I think that all nuances and details should be taken into account here. 

- That is why we asked you to give us a comment. Tell me, many compared this way of solving similar situations with the way of a football club "Star"...

- Well, why is "Zorya" here? This is a different club and they have their own vision, and we have ours. They have their own situations, we have ours. They have their own president, we have our own. And you need to know ours to understand his relationship to the club, employees and players. Sometimes it is even too open. He always passes issues of contracts or some personal problems through himself. He helps, decides, and we all appreciate it. 

- So this is the president's decision?

- Any decision is not made without the knowledge of the president. This case is not an exception, especially as far as I know, Timur personally asked the president not to sell it in the summer, although there were offers. This is their agreement, part of which was the contract extension. I think this is a very strong argument for understanding the context of this whole story. So, they talked, and the club and the president, as usual, went to meet the player, but, unfortunately, later it turned out to be a banal trick of a football player and an agent, or, as he calls himself, a "consultant".

- Volodymyr Bayenko said that it was a joint decision of the management and the coaching staff. Is that so? 

- Of course, but could it be otherwise? Well, look, how can Yuri Mykolayovych now count on a player who is clearly not in our Club? There was a personal conversation between them, after which the final decision was made. In 2022, Vernydub believed in Stetskov at the very beginning of his stay in Kryvbas, when Timur was just starting to recover from a serious knee injury, and made him the main player of the UPL bronze medalist in six months. 

Do you remember how, before the winter break, many people saw Stetskiy as a candidate for the national team? I have a simple question, but where are these conversations now? I believe that the player did not cope with this pressure, and the closest environment and all kinds of "consultants" only increased this pressure, which negatively affected Timur himself. But Yuri Mykolayovych believed and continued to trust and support the player. And what happened next, I have already said. 

- If we are already having such a frank conversation, maybe you can tell us what the situation is with Hrvoe Ilyich and whether it is similar to the situation with Timur? 

- Not quite. Ila had certain family problems, as well as fears for her own safety. We talked about it a lot, he was open and honest with the Club. After the meeting he held with "Kryvbas", we gave him time to deal with personal issues and were even ready to let him go to another club in the last resort. But Hrvoye, after a certain pause, made a decision and is returning to the team. Already this week, Ilyich will begin full training. 

- Thank you, but let's return to Stetskov. As far as we know, Timur has a contract until the end of the season. How will the situation develop further? 

- Yes, until the summer of 2025. Regarding contracts in general and the phrase that is very often used in such cases: "a football player is not a slave". I completely agree with her, but he still has certain obligations. Every football player has both the obligations of the club and the obligations of the football player himself in the contract. However, sometimes they forget about the second part for some reason. For its part, the club fulfilled all obligations and will fulfill them, and then - the choice of the player. 

- That is, you are implying that Timur still has an opportunity to rewind everything?

- Well, look, we are all human, and we all make mistakes. The main thing is to make the right conclusions. This is the experience we gain. Timur is still a young guy, and this is his "experience", this is his career, and no one but him can decide what it will be like. For every person in the structure of FC "Kryvbas", the club and its interests must come first.

Media of FC "Kryvbas" Kryvyi Rih for materials Sport-Express.ua