Vasily Utkin

Vasily Vyacheslavovich Utkin (Russian: Василий Вячеславович Уткин; 6 March 1972 – 19 March 2024) was a Russian sports commentator and reporter, author, host, television and radio presenter, entertainer, and actor.

According to a number of colleagues, players, and the media, Utkin created the language and identity of modern sports journalism in Russia, and was the most talented and recognizable Russian-speaking football commentator of his time.

[2][3][4][5] Utkin was appointed chief editor of the sports channels of NTV Plus on 1 September 2010, and was in place until the restructuring to Match TV.

[7] In 2020, his views on the poor governance of Russia were attacked by television host Vladimir Solovyov.

[23] On 21 March, before the start of a friendly football match between the Russian and the Serbian national team, fans honored the memory of the commentator with a minute of silence.