The quarter-final match of the Russian Cup, played between Volga and Zenit in Ulyanovsk on February 25, ended with the daily victory of Sergey Semak’s team with a big score of 3-0. This match would not have gone unnoticed by a large fan base had it not been for the pause in the second half.
A banana flew over the Portuguese from the stands of the Trud stadium when the blue-white-blue Wendel’s midfielder was replaced by striker Yuri Kozlov.
While the football player did not react to what happened after the match, his manager Cesare Barbieri did not stay on the sidelines.
“What do you think about the banana thing? Unfortunately, there are still things going on in modern football. I haven’t had time to contact Wendel yet. Let’s wait for Zenit’s position on this, ”Sport-Express quotes Barbieri.
The Russian Premier League (RPL) issued an official statement calling for the perpetrator to be found and punished as soon as possible.
“The Russian Premier League condemns the manifestation of racism in the Russian Cup match. “We hope that the authorities, including the FCC RFU, will consider the incident promptly, and that the perpetrators and perpetrators of this crime will be given the harshest punishment.”
– It was stated in the statement published on the official website of RPL.
Former head of Moscow “Torpedo” Alexander Tukmanov, commenting on the part with the discarded banana, said that recently the level of culture in the stands has been high.
“Actually, this is a photo from the past. Previously, 10-15 years ago, when we had legionnaires, black football players, this is where it should have been, but now. Today this is nonsense,” Vprognoze.ru quotes Tukmanov.
Former football player of the Moscow “Spartak” and the USSR national team, Yuri Gavrilov, in an interview with the correspondent “socialbites.ca” said that the racial scandal that arose against the background of a thrown banana is not remarkable.
“Yeah, we have a lot of scumbags like that, you know. Who throws something in there, etc. I don’t think it’s necessary to pay attention to this.
This event will not affect Russia’s reputation in the football world. How to fight racism? Let them impose some kind of sanction, catch violators, fine them, whatever they look for. Let them do whatever they want.
This means that these people badly need football, ”Gavrilov quoted socialbites.ca.
As sanctions against the Volga, the RFU may impose a fine of 200 thousand to 2 million rubles and prohibit the admission of spectators to the stadium sectors from one to three matches or from one to three matches without spectators.
Former head coach of the Russian national team, Boris Ignatiev, told socialbites.ca that such hooligans should be banned from sports events forever.
“This is a scoundrel who probably doesn’t understand what he’s doing. And if he does, he must bear an even greater responsibility. The organizers, the leaders of Ulyanovsk football, the RFU, all must ensure that this person receives a serious punishment and excommunicate him from going to the stadium for a long time or forever.
But I would not say that the football festival in Ulyanovsk was overshadowed by this scandal. A scoundrel who tries to pollute all the beauties of football should not appear. Everyone condemned this action, he is pleased, ”socialbites.ca quoted Ignatiev’s words.
At the same time, the expert noted that the club should not be punished for the actions of a particular violator.
“I don’t know how right it is to fine the Volga for this incident. How can a club keep track of everything a person does? We have a Fan ID and they did it to punish fans for things like this.
I don’t see how the club can afford that. Maybe the fan has already been caught and received some kind of punishment. It is the person who should be punished or the responsible persons who are fully responsible for the order in the stands.
I would not punish the club in any way, because in such a situation almost nothing can be done to restore the balance. Catch, punish, hand over to the police – yes. But in general, it is impossible to exclude the appearance of such people, ”concluded Ignatiev.
Vyacheslav Koloskov, honorary president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), also called for similar actions.
“Of course there must be consequences. If it were really a banana, we would know what that meant.
This is a serious stain not only for the club and Ulyanovsk fans, but also for our football.
There is only one option here: to diagnose this scoundrel and isolate him from football so that it would be unkind, Koloskov told socialbites.ca.