A soccer player's wife raises hell aboard an airplane, telling everyone that she's an FSB officer

On Saturday, January 6, Alisa Arshavina, the wife of former soccer player Andrey Arshavin, was removed from a business class seat along with her children and a family nanny due to “destructive behavior” and her refusal to obey the crew’s instructions.

According to the website Fontanka, she repeatedly referred to herself as a major in the Federal Security Service (FSB) as officials were removing her from an Aeroflot flight at Sheremetyevo airport. One of the stewardesses aboard the plane has also told reporters that Arshavina later sent her several threatening text messages, where she also claimed to be an officer in the FSB.

The dispute reportedly broke out when Arshavina tried to reseat her nanny in business class, even though the woman’s ticket was for a seat in the economy section. Arshavina also refused to seat or buckle in one of her children. Just before the plane was ready for takeoff, Arshavina actually unbuckled one of her children intentionally.

The FSB has not responded to Fontanka’s efforts to verify Arshavina’s claims about being a major in the agency.

Soccer player Andrey Arshavin married Alisa in 2016 and they later had a daughter together. (Alisa also has two children from a previous marriage.) In the fall of 2017, Ashavina announced that she and Andrey had separated.

In December 2017, Vladimir Putin signed legislation allowing airlines to add individuals to passenger blacklists for refusing to obey the legal orders of aircraft crew. The law takes effect in June 2018.