Zenit Vows To Educate Racist Fans
By Martin Burlund
Special to The St. Petersburg Times
The Brazilian captain of a visiting soccer team was greeted by monkey noises made by St. Petersburg fans as he raised the Russian flag to mark the first game of the 2006/07 domestic football season at Petrovsky Stadium on Sunday. As Antonio Geder, captain of Saturn Moscow, approached the flagpole with FC Zenit St. Petersburg captain Vladislav Radimov to take part in the ceremony, Zenit fans seated nearby made monkey calls in a menacing and unmistakable reference to the color of Geder’s skin. The player was subject to further racist taunts throughout the match, which ended in a 1:1 draw. World soccer organisation FIFA has recently issued a statement asking coaches to contribute to the battle against racism. But after the game, Saturn coach Vladimir Weiss expressed a sanguine view on the monkey impersonations. “I can understand the Zenit supporters — they want to support their players,” he said. However, Zenit coach Vlastimil Petrzela took a stronger line. “I don’t like this at all,” he said, and pointed out that European leagues with this kind of fan behavior may miss out on talented football players from the African continent if such abuse is not stopped. Zenit’s communications director Fyodor Pogorelov reiterated Monday that Zenit will not tolerate racism in the stands. “FC Zenit’s official attitude concerning racism is that it’s definitely wrong, unacceptable and impossible,” Pogorelov said. Last Tuesday FIFA issued plans to punish acts of racism with penalties including deductions of points and disqualification from competitions. The plan also talks of banning fans from stadiums if they show racist behavior. “You must do everything you can to ban these people from stadiums,” France and Juventus defender Lilian Thuram told French sports daily L’Equipe. “I strongly believe in education but there are some people who can’t be educated any more. It’s too late.” The proposals by FIFA were agreed in Zurich on Thursday in a meeting at which Thuram gave testimony about racism in football, describing it as a “plague.” Confederations and national associations will be compelled to incorporate the measures and infringements could lead to a two-year exclusion from international football, said FIFA. “Financial sanctions have no effect — stripping a club of points can be more discouraging. If you miss a title or if you are relegated because of the behaviour of your fans, it can be pretty effective,” Thuram said. Zenit spokesman Pogorelov said that the St. Petersburg club supports tough anti-racist measures against fans. “We think that a good idea is to identify certain ‘misbehavers’ and ban them from the stadium,” he said. Hard penalty measures were discussed after Spanish team Zaragoza’s fans racially abused Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o at a league game last month. The Cameroonian player threatened to leave the pitch in protest until he was persuaded by teammates to continue playing. Zaragoza, which has pledged to lead the way in combating racism in stadiums after last month’s incident, said it was against FIFA’s plans. “Combating racism is all about education. I don’t think sporting measures will solve anything,” Zaragoza club director, Jeronimo Suarez told sports daily Marca. Zaragoza was fined 9,000 euros ($10,960) by the Spanish Football Federation for the behavior of its fans. A FIFA conference in Barcelona held in the wake of the Eto’o incident called on players and coaches to make their contribution to the battle against racism in football. Zenit coach Petrzela said he didn’t need to be spurred by recent developments to talk to his players about promoting tolerance. “Our players don’t support racism at all. I do not have to tell them anything special about [racism],” he said. Geder was not available for comment on Monday. But Cameroonian defender Jerry Christian Tschuisse, who has played for Russian sides Spartak Moscow and Chernomorets FC, once told the BBC that he had seen the ugly face of Russian football. “I’ve had bananas thrown at me on the pitch,” he said. “People shouting at me: ‘Oi, black guy, what are you doing here?’ And there have been fights, too.” Pogorelov said that while such behavior is all too common in Russian stadiums, Zenit is planning to promote racial awareness among its fans with a project now being planned with City Hall.
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