One of the main news of the Russian football pre-season came from the Dutch prosecutor’s office. He accused Surinamese Pete Wortel of smuggling large amounts of cocaine and participating in two criminal communities. It is reported that one of the batches of a 400 kg drug was stolen in July 2019. The European press assures that the current Spartak footballer Quincy Promes was involved in the transport of this batch of drugs, who paid a fine of 250,000 € to Wortel after its loss.
Law enforcement officers from the Netherlands, who are involved in this case, found the number of Promes on the phone of Wortel, who at the time of the crime was playing for Ajax.
Photo source: IMAGO
Wortel himself will appear in court on March 3. At the same time, Wortel’s lawyer, Rud van Boom, claimed not only that his client was not involved in the crimes, but that he had no relationship with Promes, and information about paying a fine for the missing cocaine shipment it’s a rumour. .
The Dutch edition of AD writes that the theft of a cocaine shipment could have caused the murder of footballer Kelvin Maynard, who defended the colors of Volendam and Antwerp. He was shot dead in Amsterdam also in 2019, the attackers fled from the player. The police detained the suspects, but it turned out that they were not involved in the crime.
Information about Promes’ involvement in drug trafficking appeared last year, but for the first time security officials and the Western press revealed the essence of the charges that could lead to the arrest of a footballer in any country in the world that has an agreement with the Netherlands on legal cooperation. In theory, you can be arrested for transfer to your homeland and in Russia, however, de facto, after the start of the sanctions war, our country stopped legal cooperation with Western countries, which is probably why Promes is you will feel more comfortable here than in other countries. of the world.
These are not the Spartak player’s first problems with the law, but at the same time the most serious, which could lead to his extradition to the Netherlands for trial. However, it should be noted that in 2018 Promes was arrested in Ibiza for beating his wife, after which he was released on bail, and in the summer of 2020 he stabbed his relative several times, for which he was arrested several times for the police. police. and, consequently, he was sentenced in 2022 to the payment of compensation. All these criminal scandals brought him back to Spartak, but at the same time they blocked his way to the Dutch national team, where he was able to communicate with his friend Memphis Depay.
Photo source: IMAGO
But in relation to the accusations of drug trafficking, the situation worsened. It has been officially announced that Promes will miss Spartak’s first training camp, which takes place in Dubai until January 27, and then in Abu Dhabi from January 30 to February 11. Most likely, he will miss the last training camp in Turkey before the season resumes. The footballer will train in Moscow, first with the youth team, and then with the coach provided by the club according to an individual program. The case, it must be said, is unprecedented.
It is clear that this situation is detrimental not only in terms of preparation for the season, but also the reputation of Spartak. Actually, Promes was lucky that Russian clubs are now suspended from European competitions, otherwise the question of finding the rojiblancos fan favorite in the team would have become acute. Still, he must have a lot of courage so that the team management and coaching staff are guaranteed to play away games without their leader.
There has already been a similar case in Russian sports. In January last year, the then Yaroslavl Lokomotiv hockey player Reed Bush was sentenced to four years of probation and one year in prison. A US court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a minor in 2011. The hockey player was saved from more serious trouble by the fact that he was 17 years old at the time of the crime. Lokomotiv was under quite serious pressure in the press, but terminated the contract with the hockey player after the court decision. However, earlier this season, Bush returned to Avangard, as the court decision did not prevent him from leaving the United States. At the same time, it is clear that only because of reputational issues, he will not play in the NHL, even if his game begins to correspond to the league level.
Here, in the role of the hockey “Locomotive” was the football “Spartak”. Of course, if the club cared about reputation, they would have suspended Promes’ contract to resolve their problems with complaints about involvement in drug trafficking. But instead, the rojiblancos did not even allow him to go through the training camps with the team. On the one hand, now Russian football is in such a state that something else is unlikely to harm it in terms of reputation, but on the other hand, all suspensions and sanctions will end, and then reputational problems will arise, including with Promes. .
Photo source: FC Spartak
However, now everything can go further, as rumors have intensified that Spartak is ready to help Quincy Promes to obtain Russian citizenship. If this is successful, then the footballer will not be able to be extradited by Russia to any country in the world, and the country will receive the image of a state that distributes citizenship to people involved in drug trafficking. Therefore, I would assess the chances of obtaining citizenship by Promes as low, although they certainly exist.
Apparently, only the request of the prosecutor’s office from the Netherlands to Russia to extradite the players to their homeland for trial will help clean up their reputation for Spartak. It is important to understand that there is no such request now, but if it appears, there will be no formal reasons to ignore it. There are, of course, informal ones, because cooperation with Western countries is now at a very low level. But only in this case, Spartak can receive an offer to terminate the contract with a football player, which he cannot refuse. But unofficial information, it was for this reason that hockey Lokomotiv terminated the contract with Bush, who, although he returned to Avangard, no longer had problems with the law in the United States.
We can expect such a request from the Netherlands very soon. Not surprisingly, the local police authorities began to publish detailed reports on the investigation in the press. Extradition does not require a court decision on the merits of the charges. It is enough to put Promes on the wanted list and, through the prosecution, call on his Russian colleagues to help in the investigation. So “Spartak” is really convenient to look for a replacement for its leader.
