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The Russian soccer world headed for the rocks Wednesday after domestic authorities took the unprecedented decision to order the replay of a premier division match they said had been wrecked by bad refereeing.
The Professional Soccer League, which runs the top three divisions of Russian soccer, voted late Tuesday to cancel Dinamo-Gazovik Tyumen's 2-0 home win over CSKA Moscow in May because of refereeing mistakes.
The decision was a victory for CSKA, which complained the referee had disallowed two fair goals. The Moscow club had threatened to pull out of the premier division unless its appeal was upheld.
Inconsistent refereeing is one of the main problems facing Russian soccer and Tuesday's vote raises the prospect of a mass of appeals.
Corrupt referees have long been a problem in the former Soviet Union but only in the last few years have teams begun to accuse referees openly of taking bribes.
Itar-Tass quoted sources close to the PSL as saying the vote, which is not subject to appeal, broke the rules because CSKA should never have been given an appeal to begin with.
The PSL, chaired by Dinamo Moscow boss Nikolai Tolstykh, is itself a focus of dissent. Itar-Tass said other clubs on Tuesday felt referees were too soft on first-place Dinamo.
The coaches of top teams Spartak Moscow and Spartak Vladikavkaz, in a letter in Wednesday's Sport Express, threatened to pull their clubs from the league if Tolstykh remains.
Spartak Moscow coach Oleg Romantsev, who also coaches the national side, is one of the chief critics of the way the Russian game is run.
He has said more than once that soccer authorities are out to get Spartak, winners for the last three seasons but now drifting in mid-table.
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