The former director of the Chertanovo Academy, Nikolai Larin, was released after serving a portion of his sentence. Reports from Euro-Football.Ru note the development.
The Moscow City Court accepted the defense’s appeal, resulting in a reduction of the sentence to two years and six months, with the remainder postponed.
Earlier, at the end of September 2022, Larin received a three-year prison term for fraud. Investigators later found that the damage attributed to his actions exceeded 36 million rubles. It was alleged that he inflated the number of players at the Chertanovo academy to secure higher funding.
During the trial, Larin contended that there was no selfish motive behind his actions and that the funds were used to support the boarding sports school, purchase equipment, and arrange international trips for athletes.
Larin headed the Chertanovo Academy from 2008 until 2021, guiding its operations through a period of growth and change.
In a separate note from the sports world, American basketball player Brittney Griner was involved in a high-profile legal case in Russia. Griner faced a conviction related to drug offenses and was ultimately released in a high-profile arrangement, marking a significant development in the case and in U.S.–Russia sports diplomacy.