SKA-Khabarovsk has expressed support for the decision made by the Russian Football Union’s Control and Disciplinary Committee (CDC) to award a technical defeat to FC Ufa for failing to show up for their scheduled match. The game was originally set to take place on Sunday, May 3, at 10:00 AM Moscow time. CDC chairman Artur Grigoryants has previously explained the reasoning behind the ruling.
Club official Alexei Kandaltsev stated that the CDC reached a lawful verdict after a thorough review. “The CDC examined our case in detail and over an extended period, and they issued a lawful decision. First of all, we did everything possible to ensure that the calendar match between SKA-Khabarovsk and Ufa took place on the scheduled date, time, and location. We were even prepared to postpone it by one day, but our opponents chose to immediately take the matter to the CDC, citing force majeure. Very well. The league regulations clearly define force majeure as an event whose effects could not have been foreseen and/or prevented by any reasonable precaution or expense,” Kandaltsev said in a statement published on the club’s Telegram channel.
He added, “Colleagues from FC Ufa made a rather risky decision by arriving in Khabarovsk on the morning of the match day, with only a one-hour layover at Novosibirsk airport. Any ordinary precaution—and every FNL club has repeatedly faced multi-hour flight delays during the season, which have unfortunately become routine—along with seeking more expensive but more reliable travel routes, would have definitely prevented the disruption of our match.”