Russian referee Zakharov Igor

Zakharov Igor is a former Soviet and Russian football player, as well as a former Russian football referee. He was only fifty years old, but he has already completed his professional career as a player, and judges. When Zaharov Igor went on the field, he acted as a defender.

Carier start

Zakharov Igor was born June 8, 1966 in the city of Kaluga in the USSR, where he began to get involved in football, enrolling at an early age in a football school and began to go in for sports there. As a result, he replaced several football academies, the latest of which was the academy at the club "Zorky" in the city of Krasnogorsk. It was there that he spent the remnants of his youth and in 1984 signed a professional contract with the club when he turned eighteen. However, he spent only one season there, having played 22 games. Already in 1985, Igor Zakharov moved to Khabarovsk "SKA", where he stayed for a long time.

Player's career

Igor Zakharov showed himself in "SKA" from the best side, quickly becoming one of the key players in the defensive line. Five years he spent in the club, playing for him 151 match - it was the longest period in a club for the player. Here he felt the best, but in 1990 he still changed club registration, moving to the "Ocean", based in Nakhodka. He played 35 matches in the first season, scoring his debut goal in his professional career. However, since the next season the general situation has changed a little - the USSR championship no longer existed, and the "Ocean" began to play in the Russian championship. Over the next year, the football player played 45 more matches, scoring two goals, and then moved to Luch, where he spent one more season. There he went on the field 18 times, scored two goals, and in the summer of 1994 moved to the "Wings of the Soviets". There he played 19 more matches, having distinguished himself with three goals, then in 1995 he reached the peak, signing a contract with the St. Petersburg "Zenith". There he played 17 more matches, scored one goal, but did not stay long - in the same year Igor Zakharov had already moved to Gazovik-Gazprom, for which he spoke for a year and a half. At his own expense, he recorded 47 more games in the new club and three goals. In 1997, the defender joined the last club in his career - the Krasnodar "Kuban". There he played 11 more matches, noted one more goal, and then announced that he was completing his professional career as a football player, although he was only 31 at that time.

The beginning of the arbitrator

However, Zakharov did not intend to leave football. He decided to become an arbitrator and began to judge at a semi-professional level while working on obtaining a professional license. Within three years he acquired all the necessary to become a full-fledged arbiter, and in 2000 he sued his first match in the Second Division. During the year he gained enough experience and already in 2001 was admitted to the First Division of Russia. For two years he judged the games of the First Division, until he got the right to become a full-fledged arbiter in his country. In 2003, he sued his first match at the highest level, going on the field in the game between "Spartak-Alania" and his former club "Wings of the Soviets." Since that time he managed to sue many matches of the Russian Premier League, and in 2005 he acquired a license of FIFA.

Memorable moments

Igor Zakharov - the judge is far from the most ordinary, and certainly not ordinary. He was remembered by many fans for his unusual behavior in some moments, and sometimes far from the best side. For example, in one match, coaches and players suspected that he went on the field in a state of intoxication, but Zakharov refused to pass the test, citing a number of factors. As a result, that episode ended for him harmlessly, and so far no one knows whether the referee drank before the match, or simply offended by representatives of one of the teams. I also remember the moment when Zakharov showed the yellow card not to the player at all, but to the dog that ran out onto the field during the match. And, of course, the fans will remember the episode of 2006 for a long time, when goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov lost patience during the match between the clubs "Moscow" and "Dinamo" and grabbed an arbiter for a T-shirt, swearing him abusively and trying to prove that he took the wrong referee's decision. As a result, this incident led to the long disqualification of the once main goalkeeper Ovchinnikov, who decided to end his career as a football player, without waiting for the opportunity to enter the field again. It is also worth noting that in 2008, Zakharov Igor was recognized as the best arbiter of the year in the country. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar - he managed to play in many Russian cities, and even conducted judicial activity everywhere. But what compelled the referee to end his career so early?

Completion of career

Igor Zakharov announced his retirement in 2009, although he was only 43 years old. What is the reason? Many assumed that he could not stand a bad attitude towards himself, as many coaches tried in every possible way to prove his unprofessionalism and incompetence on the field. However, Zakharov himself said that the reason for the completion of the career of the arbitrator was solely his state of health. It turns out that he was already suffering from back pain for several years, so in 2009 he decided to quit the sport, because he could not continue acting on the field at the previous level for an hour and a half.