By Richard van Poortvliet
April 28 – Spartak Moscow could be in yet more hot water with the Russian Football Union following the behaviour of their fans during their 2-1 defeat at Rubin Kazan on April 20.
According to the R-Sport news agency, the local government of the city are sending a letter of protest to Russian football’s governing body after fans of the Moscow club caused trouble while marching through the city’s central street, setting off smoke bombs, shouting slogans and putting stickers on the walls of surrounding buildings.
“This was only a little of what actually happened. Is this really a peaceful demonstration and is such a thing normal for a city?” commented the Mayor of Kazan, Ilsur Metshin.
“I don’t care where or what they are doing. The only thing they need to do is make sure that their behaviour is peaceful and does not disrupt the lives of those who are in the city centre. It was like ‘Maidan’ out there on the streets and it did not seem to worry anyone!” Metshin continued.
The head of the Kazan police force, Valery Krasilnikov said that more than 7,000 Spartak Moscow fans came to support their team, while about 400 people took part in the march through the city centre.
“We had everything under control and we had enough policemen on the streets to take care of everything. There was a police cordon on either side of the marchers, so therefore no serious incidents took place and no one was hurt. A few people were given warnings and fines,” Krasilnikov stated.
This is not the first time that Spartak Moscow fans have caused trouble. In October 2013, over 70 supporters were arrested during a Russian Cup game against Shinnik Yaroslavl. They also unveiled a Nazi flag at the game, which is strictly banned under Russian law. Spartak fans fought running battles with the police before and during the game, while play had to be suspended for 20 minutes, while riot police tried to take control of the situation.
As punishment, Spartak were forced to play two high profile home games against Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg behind closed doors, which cost the club about $1.5 million dollars in lost revenue.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734786535labto1734786535ofdlr1734786535owedi1734786535sni@t1734786535eilvt1734786535roopn1734786535avdra1734786535hcir1734786535