October 1 – Russian football showcased another weekend of crowd trouble after reports that Brazilian star Hulk was subjected to monkey chants in a Russian Premier League game, and fans at Rubin Kazan’s new stadium set fire to part of the stadium after a makeshift firework display.
Hulk was subjected to racist taunts when he was playing for Zenit St. Petersburg against Spartak Moscow over the weekend. Hulk said he heard monkey chants from “a large group of people,” which he took to be “a personal insult.”
Russian football federation’s disciplinary commission chief Artur Grigoryants confirmed an investigation was underway after a match delegate noted two incidents of the chanting during the 0-0 draw.
The incident comes hard on the heels of the Russian Football Union’s two-match ban on Congolese defender Christopher Samba for making an “indecent hand gesture” to Torpedo Moscow fans who he had racially abused him.
In Kazan police detained 521 overzealous fans after Rubin played Torpedo Moscow. Fans had set off flares and other pyrotechnics in the stadium, causing a fire that damaged 20 seats. The damage could have been worse.
The teams kept playing through the fire, with Rubin beating Torpedo 2 – 1.
According to a police statement, 210 of the detained football fans were minors. Administrative charges have been filed against 30 of the minors’ parents.
Charges of misconduct, being drunk in public and consuming alcohol in public places have been issued on 23 adult fans. They now face fines, or administrative arrests for up to 15 days.
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