MOSCOW, November 12 (RAPSI) – Defense lawyers for arbiter Nikita Danchenko assaulted by ex-player of the Russian national football team Roman Shirokov have turned to Russia’s Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov seeking to reclassify a case against the athlete, attorney Alexander Ostrovky has told RAPSI.

They petition Shirokov to be charged with attempted murder.

In early November, Moscow prosecutors approved indictment against Shirokov. He stands charged with intended infliction of harm to health of the arbiter. 

Earlier, defense of Danchenko moved for the initiation of a criminal case over attempted murder. Although no official information on the criminal case opened against the ex-footballer was available yet, as far as we knew the charges were intended slight bodily harm; the defense intended to file a challenge against this decision with prosecutors and demand attempted murder charges to be brought, the lawyer said in September.

On August 10, Shirokov attacked Danchenko during an amateur football match; a video record of the incident has been disseminated via social media.