The goalkeeper of Torpedo, **[Egor Baburin](link)**, expressed that all the players in the team were aware that the controversial situation the club’s management faced during the offseason would not end favorably for the black-and-white squad.
On July 10, Torpedo was expelled from the ranks of participants in the Mir RPL for the 2025/2026 season and fined 5 million rubles. The club’s co-owner Leonid Sobolev and former CEO Valery Skorodumov were banned from any football-related activities for 5 and 10 years respectively due to attempts to arrange fixed matches. On July 11, the executive committee of the Russian Football Union decided that Torpedo would compete in the First League, while Orenburg would take its place in the RPL.
“Of course, it’s an unpleasant situation, and it affected us significantly. I believe that our training camp turned out to be somewhat disorganized because, regardless of what was said or written, there was that underlying tension. Deep down, everyone knew that the outcome for us was likely to be unfavorable. I was very upset; the entire past year and the year before, we lived with the idea of playing in the RPL. It is what it is now, and there’s nothing we can change about it, whether it’s fair or not. This situation has passed, and no one is really discussing it anymore. Now we’re focusing on what we have at hand.
I am absolutely convinced that this is what caused our disorganized start, and there’s not much to debate on that. It affected the team’s morale as well as the transfers. Nevertheless, players are human, and everyone deals with emotion differently. You can say as much as you want about not dwelling on things or forgetting them, but it’s just not easy for everyone,” Baburin said, as quoted by TASS.
Baburin also commented on the departure of the team’s head coach, Oleg Konoov. Under his leadership, Torpedo lost all four of its opening matches of the season.
“Unfortunately or fortunately, we must recognize that we are living in a time when various rumors and inside information circulate. So, it wasn’t particularly surprising. Oleg Georgievich Konoov attended training, bid farewell to everyone, said a few words, shook hands with everyone, and after that, we started preparing for the game.
We worked together for 1.5 years; there were some pleasant and successful stretches, though the last prolonged period didn’t go well. However, I’ve never spoken against him and won’t do so now, especially in a negative way. I believe Oleg Georgievich appreciated me for my dedication and personal qualities, and I hope that remains true. Though, of course, I had some questions that still linger, I won’t discuss them. I know he performed his job very well, he always cared deeply, lived with the team, and prepared thoroughly. In our sport, a coach cannot be universally good or bad for everyone. Regardless, I want to thank him for his work; last season was successful for the team, and for me as well, at least in its first half. I wish him all the best,” Baburin added.
