By Richard van Poortvliet
May 12 – Zenit St. Petersburg are in yet more trouble with the Russian Football Union after one of their supporters punched Dynamo Moscow defender Vladimir Granat in the head, towards the end of their Russian Premier League tie.
The Dynamo captain saw a fan running towards him and tried to pacify the situation, but was still caught with a right hook and was taken to hospital immediately after the game, where he was diagnosed with concussion. Dynamo were leading 4-2 at the time.
The referee, Sergey Ivanov, had already decided to take the players off the field after hundreds of Zenit fans had left the stands and started to congregate behind the advertising hoardings by the Dynamo Moscow goal.
However, following the incident with Granat, who is almost certain to be included in Fabio Capello’s Russia squad for next month’s World Cup in Brazil, the referee, after consultation with the match delegate, decided to call the match off.
Speaking to the Russian television channel NTV Plus minutes after the incident, Dynamo head coach Stanislav Cherchesov said: “I would not want to play. If I was hit, would you force me to go back on to the field?
“I would not want to do that. The player was hit in the face a few times and he says I don’t want to go back out there. What can you do?”
Zenit will face a 3-0 technical defeat, while they could play as many as five matches behind closed doors as punishment for the incident.
Meanwhile, the Russian Football Premier League’s Director for Security, Aleksandr Meytin said: “We have identified the person involved and we are currently looking for him. We know which fan group he is connected to and we know his nickname. It is only a matter of time before we find him.”
Zenit immediately apologized to the Dynamo Moscow captain, Granat, for the incident in a statement on their website, saying: “The behaviour of the fans is affecting in the most serious way their own club, the players and our many millions of supporters.”
In 2012, a Zenit fan threw a flare, which hit Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin. The match was halted immediately and Zenit’s opponents later awarded a 3-0 victory.
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