Former Russian national football team forward Roman Pavlyuchenko has made a shocking admission during the broadcast of the program 'Ulёtny Football' on Match TV. He confessed to participating in a fixed match early in his career in the Russian Premier League (formerly known as the Higher League), where teams intentionally played for a draw to maintain their position in the division.
Pavlyuchenko shared this revelation while discussing a potential mutually beneficial draw between the national teams of Austria and Algeria at the 2026 World Cup. He described the organization of such matches as a normal occurrence in football. The player clarified that there was no bribery involved in the game and declined to name the opposing team.