Vladimir Korotkov’s Lucky Hand

During a toss that took place in the House of Football in Moscow, the hosts of 2014/15 Russian Cup Final have been told. On May 21, 2015, Lokomotiv will host Kuban at the Tsentralniy Stadium in Astrakhan.

Lokomotiv was represented by the Assistant to the President of the Club and the Team Manager Vladimir Korotkov. In an interview with the Press Service, Mr Korotkov spills the beans on how the toss was conducted, and what advantages Lokomotiv will get as the hosts.

– The hosts are determined during the following procedure: two rollers are loaded with four balls each, both sets of balls are numbered 1 to 4. A club representative takes out a ball in their turn, if their number is greater than that of the opponent, then their team are the hosts. Kuban representative was not present, an RFU employee Viktor Pyshkin covered for them. I represented Lokomotiv. In the first attempt we both took out number three, in the second attempt I took out number three while Mr Pyshkin had number two.

– What advantages do we get as the nominal hosts?

– The hosts determine their kit colour for the game, the time of the pre-game training, the dressing room and the bench. Anyway, it’s the RFU who is the full host of the Final, as it organizes and holds the tournament.