The case of Fyodor Smolov: what threatens a football player for a fight

Football player Fyodor Smolov found himself at the center of a scandal after a fight in a Moscow cafe in May 2025. The incident, during which a football player and several visitors came into conflict, is being investigated by the police under the article on beatings, and a criminal case has been opened. According to TASS, with reference to the press service of the capital's Interior Ministry, he was given a preventive measure in the form of an obligation to appear. Now the athlete will have to give explanations in court. For more information about what is known about Fyodor Smolov's scandalous fight, see the Izvestia article.

Why was a criminal case opened against a football player Smolov?

The football player got into an unpleasant incident on May 28, 2025 in one of the cafes of Kofemania in Moscow. According to media reports, two men at a nearby table loudly discussed the identity of Fyodor Smolov, which attracted the attention of the football player. He approached their table, where, during a verbal altercation, the conflict escalated into a fight. Smolov punched his opponents in the face several times. One of the victims was seriously injured and had to seek medical help. After that, the men wrote statements to the police about the beating.

After the incident, information appeared that the football player was allegedly extorted from more than three million rubles so that the video of the conflict would not leak onto the Internet. Smolov initially agreed to pay one million rubles, but when the amount was increased to three million, he refused.

In response, he filed a police report on extortion and fraud. Law enforcement agencies are continuing their investigation.

This story caused a special resonance due to the fact that in the same cafe "Kofemania" in 2018 there was an incident involving football players Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev. Then, after a night party, they attacked Denis Pak, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade — one of the athletes hit him on the head with a chair. In addition, on the same day they beat the TV presenter's driver.

For these actions, the players were found guilty of beatings and hooliganism, in May 2019, Kokorin received 1.5 years in prison, Mamaev — a year and five months. In the autumn of the same year, they were both released on parole.

What is the punishment facing Fyodor Smolov?

In September 2025, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Fyodor Smolov. He is charged under part 1 of Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Intentional infliction of moderate harm to health."

The maximum penalty under this article is imprisonment for up to three years. The final decision depends on the circumstances of the case, the nature and degree of harm to the health of the victims, as well as on the position of the accused and the presence of mitigating circumstances.

In the case of Fyodor Smolov, one of the victims suffered serious injuries — a fracture of the lower jaw and the wall of the eye socket, which confirms the qualification of the damage as moderate.

The investigation and trial will take into account all the details, including the motives and behavior of the football player.

What is Fyodor Smolov known for?

Fyodor Smolov is a Russian football player, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, who plays as a striker. He was born on February 9, 1990 in Saratov, and began his professional career with Dynamo Moscow in 2008. In subsequent years, he played for Anzhi, Ural and Lokomotiv clubs, with which he won the Cup and the Russian Super Cup.

His greatest fame and success came from playing for Krasnodar, where he twice became the top scorer of the Russian Premier League in the 2015/16 (20 goals) and 2016/17 (18 goals) seasons. Smolov also joined the "100 Club" of Russian scorers, scoring over 100 league goals.

He played for the Russian national team on the international stage, making his debut in 2012, and quickly became one of its key players. He participated in the 2016 European Championship, the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 home World Cup, where the Russian national team reached the quarterfinals.

In 2024-2025, Smolov played for Krasnodar, but in 2025 joined the BetBoom Team media esports organization, where he acts as a content maker rather than a professional football player.

The charismatic football player was credited with many affairs, but he had only two official marriages. In 2012, Smolov met TV presenter and model Victoria Lopyreva. The relationship developed rapidly, and in 2014 the couple got married. However, the union broke up a year later. According to Victoria, the footballer was not ready for family life.

It took Smolov almost 10 years to settle down and find family happiness. His second wife was model and DJ Karina Istomina. Their acquaintance happened after the girl performed at one of the football matches of the Dynamo team, where Smolov was playing at the time. The athlete showed interest in her work and wrote her a compliment on social media, after which they began to communicate.

Despite the interest of fans and the media, for a long time the lovers did not comment on their relationship and tried to keep everything a secret. In May 2023, the engagement became known — Karina appeared at a public event with an engagement ring.

On June 5, 2023, Fyodor Smolov and Karina Istomina officially married. The wedding was a modest affair, attended only by those closest to her. In November 2023, the couple had a daughter, who was named Laura.

On September 10, the footballer's wife refused to comment to Izvestia on the situation with the fight in the cafe. According to her, the criminal case was initiated "because it happened that way."