By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Racism is not endemic in Russian football and should not stop the country being awarded the 2018 World Cup, the bid’s chief executive Alexei Sorokin claimed today – but was contradicted by Peter Odemwingie, the Nigerian player whose treatment has sparked the latest controversy.
The actions of a section of Lokomotiv Moscow supporters have brought the issue to the fore ahead of a crucial period for the country with only three months until FIFA vote on who will hold the 2018 and 2022 World cups, leading to doubts being cast over whether Russia is a suitable host for the event.
Lokomotiv fans recently unveiled a banner during one of their games aimed at Odemwingie, which showed a banana and said: “Thanks West Brom” – a reference to the player leaving the club to sign for the Premier League club in England.
Many have judged their antics as an act of racism, but Sorokin claims those accusations are wide of the mark.
He claims that in Russia the phrase “to get a banana” is slang for “to fail a test”.
Odemwingie, though, has claimed that the message was a racist one and he was regularly abused during his spell in Russia.
Sorokin (pictured) told the BBC: “The Russian Football Union (RFU) doesn’t accept any demonstrations of racism.
“I know that this banner applied to a certain player and to the manner of how he played in his last matches.
“Apparently fans were not happy with the fact that he plays better for Nigeria and worse for the club.
“That’s why they have shown their satisfaction after he left.
“And there is nothing racial in it.
“If there would be another player – from Russia, Denmark, Norway or Japan, for example – the reaction could be the same.
“In Russia ‘to get a banana’ means ‘to fail a test somewhere’.”
Sorokin claimed other black players such as Brazil’s Vagner Love, who has recently returned to CSKA Moscow, had become fans’ heroes.
He said: “About five years ago one Russian international was booed as well and received the same banners.
“This is a free expression of the will but there are all kinds of measures for those who misbehave.
“The Russian Football Union doesn’t absolutely accept any demonstrations of racism and roughly restrains them with all available methods.”
Odemwingie (pictured) hit back at Sorokin’s claims.
He told the BBC: “Coloured players feel the open racism there and I recall a game against CSKA Moscow when their fans started the sick noises – I wouldn’t have any of it and gave it back to them.
“This was widely publicised because photographers had shots of my protest but still nothing was done to curb it.
“Sadly, it’s a picture of a minority group in Russia – it really makes you feel sick but that is what it is.”
Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy director of the Russian SOVA Centre for Information and Analysis, which monitors extremism in Russia, suggested the RFU were aware of the problem but refused to tackle it.
She said: ”If everybody sees racism in this banner, including the player, it’s absurd to refuse.
“The phrase ‘to get a banana’ existed in the time of the Soviet Union and has almost disappeared from the slang.
“The RFU simply doesn’t want to recognise that banner as a racism.
“According to officials, recognition of the problem will make Russia’s chances to host the World Cup uncertain.
“That’s a typical logic of officials but it’s senseless to refuse the problem.
“Officials don’t understand that recognition of the problem is a step to it’s resolution.”
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