Toure racism claim hits Russia
Print Edition
Russia’s football elite and the media reacted with disbelief yesterday after Manchester City’s Ivorian captain Yaya Toure reported racist chanting during the English giant’s away clash at CSKA Moscow.
British reporters inside Moscow’s packed Khimki Arena claimed hearing monkey noises coming from the spirited home section during City’s 2-1 Champions League Group D victory on Wednesday.
The accusations are particularly sensitive to Russia because it had won the right to host the 2018 World Cup after waging a bitter battle against front-runners led by England.
Midfielder Toure, who speaks some Russian after playing two seasons with Ukraine’s Metalurg Donetsk, was adamant that the chanting was directed specifically at him. “Of course (I was aware). It is quite disappointing,” Toure told Sky television.
“It is unbelievable and very, very sad. We want to stop that and UEFA have to be strong, maybe close the stadium.”
Toure’s charges were splashed across British dailies’ sports pages but received only the most incredulous mention in Moscow. Russian state television’s vesti.ru website admitted that “CSKA Moscow could face serious problems.”
But the Moscow club’s general director and its top players claimed hearing nothing offensive coming from the fans.
“We did not hear any chanting,” CSKA general director Roman Babayev was quoted as saying by Russian media.
Babayev promised to “carefully review the episodes mentioned by Toure” but insisted that reports of racist behavior by the club’s supporters were “premature”.
The Moscow club’s Ivorian forward Seydou Doumbia agreed, even saying in an interview featured on the front page of Russia’s popular Sport Express daily that his countryman “clearly overreacted”.
“I’ve never heard any such thing from our fans,” Doumbia said. “Sure, they loudly support our team and try to put as much pressure on the opponents as possible. But no one permits themselves racist chanting.”
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