Russia under probe for racist chants at friendly
FIFA starts proceedings against World Cup hosts after Pogba, Dembele targeted by monkey chants at St Petersburg in March
FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against World Cup hosts Russia over monkey chants heard during a friendly international against France, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele were allegedly targeted by racist chanting during the match in Saint Petersburg last month.
“We have no further comment at this stage,” the FIFA spokesman said.
The Russian Football Union (RFU) said it was ready to cooperate with FIFA’s probe.
“We launched our own internal investigation the day after the match,” RFU anti-discrimination officer Alexander Baranov said.
“All international matches are played under the jurisdiction of FIFA. We opened it to understand what happened for ourselves.
“We have sent inquiries to the interior department.” Baranov added that the RFU was “in dialogue with FIFA. We are ready to send them our findings -- there is no problem there”.
Russian football chiefs are under pressure with just two months to go before the start of the World Cup on June 14 as the domestic game has been once again tarnished by incidents of racism and hooliganism.
“These people should not be allowed into stadiums. They should not be giving the world reason to think there is racism in our country,” added Alexei Smertin, head of the RFU’s antidiscrimination department.
During last month’s friendly, a photographer heard imitation monkey noises aimed at Dembele, while internet users reported similar abuse from sections of the 50,000 crowd targeting Pogba.
SCEPTICISM
The RFU’s initial response was sceptical -- claiming they had heard nothing -- but the country’s governing body then did launch its own investigation.
FIFA followed suit after French Sports Minister Laura Flessel, a two-time Olympic fencing champion, called for “European and international” action.
The Russian parliament’s deputy speaker,
Igor Lebedev, blasted inaction in the country over racism and called on “fans to stop this”.
“This is not just a problem with our fans’ perception of African American and black players,” he had said.
“The problem is elsewhere: none of this bad behaviour will stop until we start punishing it.” Lebedev insisted that such incidents taking place during the World Cup would “embarrass the country”.