Riga FC boycott final league match against RFS

The end of the Latvian football season has been overshadowed by a dispute between runners-up Riga FC and the Latvian Football Federation (LFF). On Saturday 7 November the club announced that on Sunday it would not take the field at Skonto Stadium for its round 36 match in the Virslīga, Latvia’s top football division, against newly crowned champions RFS (Rīgas Futbola skola). The game no longer affects the standings, but the decision could cost the club a forfeit defeat and a fine.

What happened

Riga FC published the statement on social media in Latvian and English. The club wrote that it had taken an “extremely difficult but conscious” decision: “our team will not take the field for the final-round match of the championship against RFS”. The club said the match “no longer has any competitive or sporting significance”, but that the main reason, in its words, lies in “a deep crisis of fairness”. Quotations are translated from the Latvian version; the full statement is embedded at the end of this article.

The reasons Riga FC give

The club wrote that “systematic and gross refereeing errors directly affected the distribution of places in the league table”, and also cited breaches of ethical standards and fair play principles. According to the statement, both Riga FC and other Virslīga clubs had repeatedly raised the issue with the LFF “both verbally and in writing”, but had met with indifference from the federation and an unwillingness to tackle the problems.

The statement does not name any specific matches, incidents or referees, and no official protest by Riga FC over any specific decision this season can be found in publicly available sources. Refereeing in the Virslīga is regularly reviewed by the LFF’s referees’ department, which publishes explanations of contentious incidents. In its review of May’s matches, published in June, for example, the department acknowledged several wrong decisions — and two significant errors, sportacentrs.com reported, went in Riga FC’s favour.

What RFS say

RFS head coach Viktors Morozs said on social media that after losing out last season his team “did not come out with excuses”. “This season we earned our win on the pitch with our hard work. That is exactly why I cannot respect the decision to refuse to play,” Morozs wrote. RFS had not issued an official club statement by the time this article was published.

Riga FC’s season in numbers

Virslīga: 25 wins, 8 draws and only 2 defeats in 35 matches, a goal difference of 95-33, 83 points and second place — six points behind RFS (89).
RFS clinched the title on 1 November, the fourth in the club’s history. Auda are third with 70 points.
Riga FC have scored the most goals in the league, while RFS have conceded the fewest — 24.
In the Latvian Cup semi-final on 3 September, Riga FC beat RFS 3-2 away.

Conference League: three draws

In Europe, Riga FC are playing in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, in which 36 teams play six matches each. The top eight go through to the last 16, the teams from 9th to 24th play in a knockout play-off round and the rest are eliminated.

15 October, home, against Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan — 1-1.
22 October, away, against Pafos of Cyprus — 1-1.
5 November, home, against Jablonec of the Czech Republic — 1-1. Ramirez scored Riga FC’s goal from a penalty, and another goal was ruled out after a VAR review.

With three points from three rounds, Riga FC are 19th in the league-phase table, the LETA news agency reported.

What happens next: what the rules say

Point 5 of the LFF Disciplinary Regulations states that in the Virslīga a team that “refuses to play or to continue a match already under way” is awarded a 3-0 defeat and fined €1,500 and/or given other sanctions under point 1.6 of the regulations (sub-point 5.2). Point 1.6 lists possible sanctions for a club that include a warning, a fine, a ban on registering new players or a match behind closed doors. Point 4.12.3 of the Virslīga regulations also provides for a 3-0 forfeit if a club refuses to play at the time and venue set by the organisers.

A forfeit would change nothing in the table: RFS are already champions, and Riga FC, on 83 points, will finish second whatever happens, as third-placed Auda can reach no more than 73 points. The LFF’s bodies will decide what sanctions to apply. The federation’s official response was not known by the time this article was published.

Upcoming matches

20 November, 19:30, Skonto Stadium — Latvian Cup final: Auda v Riga FC. Auda reached the final after beating Daugavpils in a penalty shoot-out.
26 November, 19:45 — Conference League, away to FK Kauno Žalgiris of Kaunas, Lithuania.
10 December, 19:45 — Conference League, at home to Atalanta of Bergamo.
17 December, 22:00 — Conference League, away to Borac of Banja Luka.

All kick-off times are Riga time. Live results and line-ups are in our match centre.