During Soviet times, football referees were often viewed with skepticism. And there were several reasons for this. For example, the legendary goalkeeper of Spartak and Moscow Torpedo Anzor Kavazashvili told how the referees worked out matches if the host side did not give them a warm welcome.
“A judge arrived in Kostroma. The team leader meets him at the station. He barely got off the train and said: “Today I want barbecue, vodka and two girls on the banks of the Volga.” He ordered me to buy a case of beer and a roach. All. Then in the first half he just killed us. I couldn’t stand it and went into the judge’s room during the break. I dragged him into the toilet and fucked him. The second half was judged as it should be. He was no longer assigned to our matches,” Kavazashvili recalled.
There were also matches in the USSR when referees openly killed teams, took bribes, and sometimes engaged in blackmail. This is what the same Kavazashvili recalled in an interview with SE.
“I’m tired of judicial lawlessness. In the 60s, football was cleaner; the dirt started in the 70s. When I coached Spartak from Kostroma, I saw a lot of things. The judges went crazy. They came, the scoundrels, and from the doorstep: “We need women, money, booze…”
One in particular outraged me. Small, fat, bow-legged, with a long nose. We were playing away and collided before the game. He says: “Anzorchik, don’t worry, everything will be fine.” The first half really worked well. When leaving for a break, I even shook his hand: “Kolya, well done.” – “Anzorchik, what are you talking about? I’m a decent person.”
The second half begins – and I can’t believe my eyes. Surrounded with whistles. I gave two penalties and counted the goal for offside. The match ends, I run to him. At the entrance to the judge’s room I caught up with him and grabbed him by the nasty nose. Almost tore it off. Yells: “It hurts! Let go!” And I: “Bastard, return the money to those from whom you took it!” I command the assistant: “Empty everything from his pockets.”
There was also hatred for the referees on the part of the Soviet fans, who came up with the famous chant – referee to the soap! We wrote a separate article about the origin of this phrase.
As for the salaries of Soviet referees, they were very decent. The exact amount was revealed by the legendary judge from the USSR Alexander Gorin. It turns out that the salary depended on the category of the referee.
“A republican category referee received about ten rubles per game. All-Union – seventeen and a half rubles. Then they raised the prices: for the first league match they paid fifty rubles, for the highest league – one hundred rubles. Considering that on average people received one hundred and fifty rubles, it was not bad. In a month, if you sue in different leagues, you’ll get four hundred rubles,” summed up Gorin.
In general, it was definitely a sin for the judges to complain. Although they, like other citizens of the USSR, probably wanted to earn more. Perhaps that is why some arbitrators participated in agreements, and sometimes resorted to blackmail.
