Interview with Diyor Imomkhujaev on death threats, match-fixing and arbitration

SPORTS.uz will continue to provide exclusive interviews. The head of the Professional Football League of Uzbekistan Diyor Imomkhodjaev, who was a guest on the project "Dangal", answered questions from fans.

Are there many people who threaten with death?

- To be honest, I accept it as normal. Ever since I started working as a PFL manager, I have started to receive such letters more often. In fact, this is normal, but it was very sad that a young man commented on a photo of me with my daughter, threatening to kill her. We all have our own personal lives and sacred things. Fans may overstate when they get angry. However, there are many adequate people. When they meet me in real life, they change their minds. There is a big difference between a negative and a negative. We have some brothers and sisters. They explain our shortcomings in a very nice way. And we will solve the problem if we come to the right conclusion. Unfortunately, some people are openly hostile to me. It's a field where you have to work right in and hit someone's tail. They are also brothers, have relatives. In fact, we are all bad people in someone's life. Therefore, I accept it correctly.

In the subjective project, you were recognized as the first person to raise the hand to legalize the totalizator in Uzbekistan. How did you react to that?

- Actually, it's a show. Khairulla Nuriddinov used to be the author of such programs. I am a person who has entered this direction. I can come back in if I need to. First of all, it is necessary to better understand the topic. My relations with Kun.uz are very good. If he had met me, of course, I would have explained everything to him. I respect the project. His goal is to turn people away from evil, but the goal and direction must be balanced. I have never acted on people's opinions. Otherwise, I have nothing to do.

Did Sekeira and Huistra's comments at the press conference have a negative impact on the reputation of Uzbek football?

- By the way, it does not change anything. Who expected that Sekeira would come and in a year FC Lokomotiv will fully master the style of tiki-taka? Personally, I did not expect this. Xavi, for example, came in and made Al Saad a team capable of taking control of the Barcelona singles. In fact, he did not do 100% of the work. This victory is due to the services of football academies, which opened in 2006 in Qatar. A new generation has entered the world of football under the tutelage of foreign coaches. The bricks of the team that Xavi built are the students of the academy. The coach of FC Lokomotiv can not restore the building built by Xavi from "mud" bricks. It will take years. Prior to that interview, I had a lot of respect for Sekeira. When that didn't work out, he got his world out of it. FC Pakhtakor I agree with the head coach but do not insult. In any case, the number of our stadiums with quality turf is growing every year.

Sekeiran's style seems to be reminiscent of Ector Cooper's. What do you think about this storm?

- It's hard to say right now. I think he has just got acquainted with Uzbek football. We can comment on the style and tactical competition based on next year's games. Srecko was a good choice. He has worked in Asia and has had positive results against midfielders and strong teams. I think our players are stronger than Iraq. We need the right direction. I watch a lot of games live. I did not comment on children's football and Xavi in ​​vain. In the near future, we will add to the rules a clause stating that it is not allowed to insult one's own student. Before training coaches, they need to be trained. The main advantage of today's football leaders is that they work with strong coaches. Unfortunately, not everyone was fortunate enough to work with such teachers. I was upset with two coaches. One of them is Islam Ismoilov, the other is the coach of FC Neftchi (U-18). I was amazed at what the former FC Turan coach did. (U-21) match. A player from the team (U-18) was called up. The young man was very excited during the game because he was playing with older ones. Islam, on the other hand, greeted every misfortune with insulting words. What kind of player can he be when he hears such things from his coach? He broke there! I'm not saying that the coach shouldn't leave the students, you just need to know how to do it on the spot. 

Uzbekistan (U-14) and (U-16) championships were broadcast by SPORTS.uz. Observing those matches, it became clear that the uniform of the young children was in a very deplorable state. As a person who knows how much money the government spends on clubs a year, can teams not provide uniforms for young players in their academies?

- There is money, but it is not fair. In fact, a person raises his children by feeding them or dressing them. Young players at the academy are like children of clubs. How can a club that is indifferent to its family members expect to produce good staff tomorrow? The kids at Real and Barcelona academies wear balls with the team's logo on and feel like they are part of the club. In fact, the money spent on fully dressing their youth is a very small part of the money allocated by the state. We want justice for the clubs that have spared 200 million soums for their children.