By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s sports minister who is leading his country’s 2018 World Cup preparations, says Moscow police should never have used water cannons to disperse rioting fans at a recent domestic cup match and admits it did little to enhance Russia’s image overseas.
The scenes of violence involving Spartak Moscow fans at second division Shinnik Yaroslavl resulted in the match being suspended for 20 minutes and 78 arrests being made.
With the world watching on, Russian authorities were quick to react, ordering Spartak, the country’s most successful club, to play two home games behind closed doors.
“When you see water cannons, these are the horrible images for a country that is preparing for the World Cup,” Mutko, a prominent member of FIFA’s executive committee, declared.
“I have a feeling we have regressed 15 or 20 years. These [water cannons] are used at mass disturbances when it’s impossible to stop them. But it is a stadium, of course; it’s not normal.”
Russia’s so-called Fan Law comes into effect in January following a staggering 14,000 offenses committed at Russian sporting events over the last three years, according to Sports Ministry figures.
The ban on Spartak had an immediate effect as they lost the Moscow derby against Lokomotiv, watched by only be a handful of officials from both clubs.
The second match behind closed doors will be the normally high-profile fixture against Zenit St Petersburg next weekend.
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