The Russian state-owned TASS news agency, citing a news release from the Russian Federation, reported that Viktor Kassai had succeeded Alexander Egorov as the Head of Russian referees. György Ring, a former assistant referee of Kassai, who also gave up his role on the field, was given a position in the referee administration.
Kassai's appointment was reported on the official website of the Russian Federation and, after a brief presentation of his professional biography, he spoke to the Hungarian sports magazine: "I would like to thank the leaders of the Russian Federation for selecting me to this position with important responsibilities. I recently ended my refereeing career and this new assignment promises to be a very interesting challenge. I am confident that as a result of our joint efforts we will be able to put the Russian refereeing on a new development. During the training camp in February, I will meet with the Russian referees and begin to develop our new strategy”. It is not uncommon in football to call on prominent foreign referees for important positions, relying not only on their experience, but mainly on their independence with domestic interests. Hungarian-speaking Polish Michal Listkiewicz previously worked in the Czech Republic, Italian Pierluigi Collina in Ukraine, Howard Webb in the United States, Mark Clattenburg in Saudi Arabia and Roberto Rosetti in Russia filled the position now offered to Kassai, according to information from Sport-Express, for a fabulous salary of almost one million euros a year. The high salaries that even forced some of these referees to retire are no accident: those who appointed them (especially in Eastern Europe) see this as a guarantee that they will be able to be independent of any attempts to influence by local lobby groups. The Russian press is currently speculating whether Kassai's partner, also internationally renowned referee Katalin Kulcsar, will move to Moscow.
“Viktor Kassai is one of the best known and most respected referees in the world. I am confident that he will be able to provide our referees with the latest preparation techniques and present them with the latest international trends”, commented Alexander Gyukov, president of the Russian Federation. “Viktor Kassai has extensive international experience and is keen to build the most up-to-date referee community in Russia. We have found a professional and independent expert for the task, for whom the successful management of change is an ambitious challenge”, added Asot Hacsaturjan, chairman of the Russian Referees Committee. Hacsaturjan also listed what would fall under Kassai's competence: managing Russian referees, achieving uniform interpretation and application of the Laws of the Game, improving the quality of game management; participation in the assigning process, and establishing of a uniform system of referee training from the regional up to the national level.
