RFS head coach Viktors Morozs acknowledged after his team’s 3–1 win over Super Nova that the club deliberately reinforced its reserve side to make life harder for Riga Mariners, who are leading the Nākotnes Līga and on the verge of promotion to the top tier.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Morozs said the decision to field a string of senior players in RFS-2’s recent 3–4 loss to Riga Mariners was strategic. “Of course we don’t want Riga to have three teams in the championship,” he said. “We did it exactly for that reason — to make things difficult for them”. Morozs also pointed out that Riga’s reserve team had similarly reinforced its lineup with first team players the previous week to help defeat Mariners’ promotion rivals Ogre United.
The comment referred to the growing controversy over the Mariners’ position within Latvian football’s structure. The club, effectively operating from Riga FC’s academy base, is seen by many as a satellite of the newly crowned Virslīga champions. Its success in the second division has raised questions about competitive balance should both sides find themselves in the same league next season.
Morozs drew parallels to past examples of multi-club dominance abroad. “When I was still playing in Moldova, they told me how half the league belonged to one team and the other half to another. It all ended badly,” he explained. “We know what happened with Ventspils later, but that’s not the point. We just don’t want to see the same situation here.”
The coach’s remarks echoed broader unease among rival clubs about the Mariners’ rise. While the team insists it operates independently, its shared infrastructure and leadership links with Riga FC have prompted scrutiny from within the Latvian football community.
RFS’s actions were not unique— a number of top-flight reserve sides, including Riga-2 and Tukums 2000, have fielded senior players late in the season. But Morozs’s frank admission marked the first public confirmation that a club intentionally used its reserves to influence another team’s promotion chances.
For the Mariners, who need at least a draw in Saturday’s decisive match against JDFS Alberts to seal the title and Virslīga promotion, the controversy adds further tension to an already charged finale.
Source: https://sportacentrs.com/futbols/virsliga/03112025-morozs_par_satelitklubiem_negribam_lai_ri
