April 15 – Anything Torpedo Moscow can do when it comes to discrimination, Spartak Moscow can seemingly match. Within days of Torpedo being found guilty of racism and ordered to play two more home games behind closed doors after their fourth offense of the season, so Spartak Moscow have been punished after fans displayed racist images during the April 9 fixture at Arsenal Tula.
In a sanction similar to that of Torpedo for incidents against the same opponent, Spartak’s supporters will be banned from their next two away games, excluding women and children under 12. The club have also been fined by the Russian Football Union.
The match, won 1-0 by Tula, was also marred by violence in the stands, with Spartak fans climbing on to the roof of the stadium and throwing flares and other objects at rival supporters.
Arsenal have also been fined, mainly for safety failures, after a supporter fell from the roof of the stadium and broke both of his arms.
Russian football authorities continue to insist that progress is being made to clear up discrimination ahead of the 2018 World Cup but the evidence points to the contrary.
The head of the RFU’s disciplinary committee, Artur Grigoryants, said: “Russia has signed up to all the necessary documents supporting the fight against racism and discrimination. Yet sanctions don’t seem to be doing much good despite the platitudes.
A recent report by two anti-discrimination organisations suggested there were more than 200 cases of discriminatory behaviour linked to Russian football over two seasons.
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