The crisis surrounding FK Riteriai reached a new low on Friday evening after the club’s scheduled Toplyga match against FK Panevėžys was officially postponed because the home side failed to provide a mandatory ambulance for the match.
The game was supposed to kick off at 20:00 local time, but was eventually called off after no ambulance arrived at the stadium – reportedly because the club had not paid for the service.
Following the postponement, Andrius Tapinas, president of FK Žalgiris Vilnius, published a lengthy and emotional statement on Facebook strongly criticising the current state of Lithuanian football and the handling of the Riteriai situation by league officials.
“Humiliation,” Tapinas wrote. “The only word suitable to describe what is happening right now in the so loudly named Lithuanian football Toplyga.”
Tapinas described the situation as an insult not only to football supporters and players, but also to people trying to build a better future for Lithuanian football.
“It is humiliation towards those who love football, those who work tirelessly trying to prove that football in Lithuania has a future and can be clean,” he wrote. “And humiliation towards footballers who simply want to play football, do their job, receive salaries and live with dignity.”
Earlier on Friday it was confirmed by Lithuania’s Professional Footballers Association that two Riteriai players and the club’s final remaining coach had terminated their contracts due to unpaid wages. According to PFA president Arūnas Klimavičius, the club has not paid salaries at any point during the 2026 season.
Tapinas also heavily criticised Toplyga leadership for allowing the club’s new ownership group to take over despite what he described as obvious warning signs surrounding the so-called Dutch investors.
“When I learned the investors’ names, it took me an hour to check who these African-origin figures from paper companies with zero income were,” Tapinas wrote. “Even someone sitting in prison for fraud wearing a shirt saying ‘I plan to scam you’ would have looked more trustworthy than that ‘Dutchman’ Clancy Konadu.”
The Žalgiris president claimed he personally warned Toplyga president about the situation already back in January, saying he believed the investors were “obvious scammers” making unrealistic promises and taking money from hopeful players.
“I also tried to convince them that the prestige of the whole league and Lithuanian football would burn if this failed,” Tapinas added.
The match was eventually officially cancelled after the ambulance still failed to arrive before kickoff.
“Football is once again in the centre of ridicule and mockery,” Tapinas wrote before later updating the post with confirmation that the game would not be played.
Despite his criticism of the club’s leadership and league management, Tapinas praised the Riteriai players for continuing to compete despite the circumstances.
“Yes, they drew against Žalgiris,” he wrote. “And the greatest respect goes to those Riteriai players who, without receiving salaries and not knowing how to feed their families, still went onto the pitch and fought as if it was the most important match of their lives.”
The latest developments further deepen one of the biggest crises Lithuanian football has faced in recent years, with serious uncertainty now surrounding Riteriai’s immediate future in the Toplyga… once again.
