*FIFA has asked the Russian Football Union [RFU] to explain why it banned a Ghanaian soccer player for two matches for his reaction to fan racism and did not sanction the alleged racist’s team.
In video from Friday’s Russian Premier League game, Spartak Moscow fans could be heard yelling racial taunts to FC Ufa midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong, who is black.
Frimpong flipped the offensive fans the bird…and for doing so, found himself banned for two games, while Spartak escaped punishment over the latest racism incident to mar Russian soccer ahead of the 2018 World Cup. The RFU says it found no evidence of racism.
Watch below:
But FIFA sustainability head Federico Addiechi, whose job includes the handling of racism issues, said Thursday that the Russians have been given until Tuesday to respond to the governing body’s disciplinary department.
In December 2010, within hours of winning the FIFA vote to host its first World Cup, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said on racism in soccer: “We see it and we believe it is a problem.
But in February, soccer anti-discrimination group FARE documented more than 200 incidents of racist and discriminatory behavior linked to Russian soccer over two seasons.
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