---
title: "Riga FC in a protest refuse to play final Virslīga match against RFS"
date: 2026-11-07T12:33:06Z
lang: en
author: "Janis Vitols"
canonical: https://balticfootballnews.com/riga-fc-refuse-to-play-final-virsliga-match-against-rfs/
categories: ["Virsliga"]
---

# Riga FC in a protest refuse to play final Virslīga match against RFS
**Riga FC have announced that they will not take the field for Sunday’s Latvian Virslīga season finale against newly crowned champions RFS. In an extraordinary statement released on Saturday, the former Latvian champions cited systematic refereeing errors, alleged violations of fair play principles and a lack of action from the Latvian Football Federation (LFF) as the reasons behind their decision to boycott the Rīga derby.**

The 36th and final round of the 2026 Virslīga season was scheduled to conclude on Sunday with a derby between Riga FC and RFS. However, with the championship already decided in favour of RFS, Riga FC have taken the unprecedented step of announcing that they will not participate in the fixture.

In their official statement, Riga FC described the decision as extremely difficult but deliberate, apologising to supporters who had been looking forward to the final derby of the season.

“We have made an extremely difficult, yet deliberate and principled decision: our team will not take the field for the final match of the championship against RFS,” the club announced.

Although Riga FC acknowledged that the match no longer carries any significance for the league standings, they told that their decision was primarily motivated by what they described as a crisis of fairness throughout the season.

The club alleged that repeated refereeing mistakes had directly influenced the final standings, while also accusing those responsible for overseeing Latvian football of failing to address concerns raised by several Virslīga clubs.

“Over the course of the year, everyone following the Latvian football championship has witnessed how systematic and egregious refereeing errors directly influenced the final standings, undermining the very foundations of fair competition,” the statement continued.

Riga FC also claimed that both they and other Virslīga clubs had repeatedly raised these issues with the LFF, both verbally and in writing, but had encountered what they described as complete indifference and an unwillingness to act.

According to the club, participating in Sunday’s fixture would effectively mean accepting the situation rather than taking a stand against what they believe to be unfair treatment.

“Remaining silent or participating in tomorrow’s match would mean accepting injustice and legitimizing processes that are undermining Latvian football,” Riga FC stated.

The announcement comes at the end of a disappointing domestic campaign for Riga FC, who surrendered their Virslīga title to city rivals RFS. The championship race was mathematically decided in the previous round when Riga FC were held to a goalless draw by already-relegated Ogre United, while RFS secured the title with a 3-0 victory over Grobiņa.

The club concluded its statement by apologising once again to supporters and insisting that the boycott was intended to defend its reputation and draw attention to the issues it believes are affecting Latvian football.

**Source:** [https://www.facebook.com/rigafootballclub/posts/pfbid0mQVgSkRJ41LkeK1rf4yzNSnNU4F2UP8ybVRcgy4AmwHQh5VA59vStqYxYJGmgjKal](https://www.facebook.com/rigafootballclub/posts/pfbid0mQVgSkRJ41LkeK1rf4yzNSnNU4F2UP8ybVRcgy4AmwHQh5VA59vStqYxYJGmgjKal)