Accusations of racism in Russia’s football clubs are proving detrimental to the country’s image, especially as preparations are going forward for Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup. Though the authorities generally claim that charges of racism are only applicable to a small hard-core group of fans, recent news indicates a different story.
The championship team Zenit Saint Petersburg has been the focus of a lot of media attention, in part because they signed two black players in early September. Hulk, the Brazilian forward and Axel Witsel, the Belgian midfielder are the first blacks ever recruited to Zenit, and they have more than competition on the playing field to contend with.
Zenit’s biggest fan club is known as Landskrona; they are hard-core fans but they’re also hard-core in their views of racial purity. The group has loudly advocated a policy of signing only ‘pure’ white players, which in their opinion excludes blacks from anywhere, South Americans and gays of any colour. Landskrona and others in their racist camp have become an embarrassment to the Russian Football Union and to many of the Russian players.
Last summer at the European Championships the Russian soccer federation got hit with a $150,000 fine after a display of nationalistic flags and clashes with stewards, and there have been many other incidents of blatant hostility on the part of some Russian fan groups. For the most part, officials tend to deny that there’s really a serious problem, but most agree that the racist element could create a lot of tension and hostility during the World Cup matches.
A former Zenit coach, Raymond Verheijen, feels that the racial issue is a serious one and should be dealt with by action from the sports governing body. He said he was shocked that Zenit fans had gone so far as to demand an all-white team, and that the club and the Federation should take responsibility for preventing and/or punishing racist behavior in the football world.
On Tuesday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered his backing to Russia’s bid for the World Cup during a meeting with FIFA inspectors in which they took a look at how viable the option is.