Another Potential Championship Goes Off The Pitch

By: chris | April 23rd, 2008

Fresh off Olympiakos being handed their Greek championship trophy in a courtroom, the top of the table in Ukraine might be altered due to some off-the-pitch decision making as well. Dynamo Kyiv, who usually have the title wrapped up before the whistle blows on the opening game of the season, walked through the immensley struggling Neftyanik over the weekend with three goals. Problem is the game was intrerrupted three times by violence (above), and now both teams are being put up for review and potential point deductions. Uh oh.

Right now it’s just a lot of finger pointing and “it wasn’t me, I swear” going on with little actual info, but in the event that sanctions are handed down to one or both teams, as threatened by The Powers That Be, this could be disastrous. The top and bottom of the league standings look something like this (all on 26 GP):

1. Shakhtar 62 pts
2. Dynamo 61 pts
3. Metalist 55pts
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.
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14. Zorya Luhansk 25pts
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15. Neftyanik 22pts
16. Zakarpattia Uzhhorod 21pts

Any type of point deduction would be a massive blow for both teams, especially Neftyanik, who would seemingly be assured of a spot in the Ukrainian second division unless they turn on a dime in the last four games. (Not a lot of glory or financial backing in Ukraine’s “B” division, I hear.) Dynamo’s got 12 of the Ukranian Premier League’s 16 championships, so if they finish second a whopping five times in the history of their league, they can lessen the pain by standing in front of their massive trophy cabinet and remembering “the good times”.

However, the biggest loser in this might not be either club but actually the Ukrainian Football Federation. This does not reflect well upon the halfzie-hosts of Euro 2012, a country which is already having difficulties getting requirements in place.

Never a dull week in Eastern European football.