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| FC Zenit Fans at a Russian Premier League game in 2008 [Attribution to Wikipedia User: Аурелиано Буэндиа used under Creative Commons License] |
Almost a year ago in December
2012, a group of Fans to Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg shocked many soccer
fans with a demand to their club to exclude non-white and gay players. The
largest Zenit supporter’s group, Landscrona, expressed that these dark-skinned
players are “forced down their throats” and that gay players are not “worthy”
of their city. Zenit has a history of racism; monkey chants and the hurling of bananas
barely scratch the surface of personal accounts from black players of abuse on
and off the pitch. Before the signings of Brazilian “Hulk” and Belgian
Midfielder Axel Witsel, Zenit were the only team in the Russian division
without a black player[1].
A year later, Russian sport has not improved. Amidst controversy between the
Winter Olympics and human rights abuses against the Russian LGBT community,
social and racial strife prevails.
Recently, during a Champions
League[2]
match Manchester City and CSKA Moscow, Ivorian midfielder Yaya Touré commented
that he was the subject of monkey chants from the visiting Moscow fans.
Although Moscow responded that the fans simply booed and whistled, UEFA[3]
forced CSKA Moscow to partially close their stadium for their next Champions
League match[4]. The
puzzling part of the whole ordeal is how, through these instances of overt
racism and abuse, Russia is still able to hold two of the most important
international events in the world, the Olympics in 2014 and the FIFA World Cup
in 2018. Many players fill in a need to boycott the event as questions of
protection and abuses add to the controversy around the Olympics. Touré himself
stated that, “If we are not confident coming to the World Cup in Russia, then
we don’t come”[5].
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| Midfielder Yaya Touré (pictured here playing for FC Barcelona) stated that CSKA Moscow fans racially abused him during a match. [Attribution to Flickr Member Oemar (http://www.flickr.com/photos/99591081@N00/4636545390) used Creative Commons License] |
On the big stage, Russia should be wary about how their fans behave. The treatment of black and gay players and fans should be their top priority although the solution is more obviously presented than implemented. Over 30 years ago, English soccer battled with the same problems of racism and hooliganism. Through a united effort of police authorities, fans, clubs, and players English Football was saved from an abyss of violence and anarchy. Tougher laws, which include lifetime bans, maintained a zero tolerance policy against racism and violence that redeemed the game. In Russia, a harsher fan law that would come into effect in January 2014 promises to raise fines and instill mandatory community service to violent fans in stadiums. Nonetheless, the “fan law” seems more like a cosmetic solution to the systematic denial of any racism at all in Russia. CSKA Moscow insists that the complaints of racism remain exaggerated if at all existent. Safety for foreign visitors linger as the World Cup in 2018 slowly approaches. Ged Grebby of “Show Racism the Red Card,” an anti-racism group based in Britain, suggests that more concrete measures, such as a significant ban or even the stripping of the World Cup, may be the appropriate wake-up call to initiate reform in Russian soccer[6]. Nonetheless, Russia should expect the road to 2018 to be even more arduous and more critical should stringent political regulation of fan behavior continue to be ignored.
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