Former football player Ilya Abaev did not become a big star, although he played for many RPL clubs. His performances for Lokomotiv, Rostov and Anzhi were especially memorable.
Abaev played most of his career with long hair, which fans remember. Now the goalkeeper has admitted that in his youth he was almost beaten by a bandit near Moscow because of them.
Why did they want to beat Abaev because of his hairstyle?
Abaev said in a new interview with Sport24 that the conflict occurred when he was playing for Torpedo Moscow. The goalkeeper has been with the club since his youth: first he played for the second team, and then for the first team (together from 1999 to 2008).
During this period, an unpleasant incident happened to Abaev. He went with friends to relax in a bar, where he encountered aggression because of his hairstyle:
“One day my friends and I decided to go to a bar. We stood with one guy at the bar, talking. And suddenly some drunken, huge man wedges between us. He glanced at me, turned and hit me.
As it turned out later, it was because I had long hair. They grappled with him and chairs, glasses, and dishes flew. As a result, the guys and I neutralized him and called the police. It turned out that this was some kind of “Ramensky” bandit.”
How did the conflict end?
Abaev notes: the police arrived, but refused to help him. They didn’t even detain the attacker, so Abaev asked to take him away to ensure safety, because the bandit threatened to kill him.
“I say: “Then at least take me away. He promises to kill me as soon as you leave!” And he really promised. In short, they didn’t take any of us, they got into the car and drove away. And this guy and I somehow got into a conversation.
He admitted: “I thought you were informal. But you did great, you twisted me well.” As a result, we went to his house, he took the money and paid for all the damage in this club. He also treated us.”
Abaev admitted that he himself had no desire to go into crime. He almost never found himself in conflict situations, because he devoted all his time to sports.
“To be honest, I didn’t have time to do anything other than football. From Monday to Friday there is school, on weekends there are games. When Torpedo got into the double team, the schedule was tougher.
Free time became even more difficult when I entered the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture. By the way, I wrote my diploma on the topic “Repelling penalty kicks,” the footballer recalls with a laugh.