Russia 2018 WCup organizer vows to fight racism

Posted Friday, June 24, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

MOSCOW (AP)—Russia will launch a campaign against racism in football to try to curb incidents such as the banana thrown at Roberto Carlos in a game this week.

Racism has become entrenched in some of the country’s fan clubs, which are heavily laden with ultranationalists.

Roberto Carlos, who plays for Anzhi Makhachkala, walked off the field in protest during Wednesday’s league game at Krylya Sovietov Samara, bringing the issue into sharp focus for Russian football officials.

The head of Russia’s 2018 World Cup Organizing Committee, Alexei Sorokin, said on Friday at a football forum in Moscow that the issue was “very difficult to control,” but the Russian Football Union was preparing to enact an anti-racism campaign memorandum.

He denied Russia had deeply rooted issues with racism, insisting that a few isolated incidents did not constitute a trend.

“Yes, there are various outbreaks and incidents. But they do not represent the overall mood in our society,” he said.

Wednesday’s incident was the second involving Roberto Carlos, the highest-profile player ever to play in Russia.

In March, Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg was fined $10,000 after one of its fans offered a banana to the Brazilian at a pre-match ceremony.

The 38-year-old left back, who won the World Cup in 2002, joined Anzhi this year from Corinthians.

“I’m outraged by the sickening behavior of this fan, who, in fact, insulted not only me but all the players,” he told Sport Express. “I hope Russian federation, UEFA and FIFA will give an adequate evaluation to this disgusting incident.”

Last year, Lokomotiv Moscow fans unfurled a banner showing a banana directed at Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie, who went on to join West Bromwich Albion. Russian officials attempted to claim the overtly racist banner reflected general discontent at the striker and wasn’t a reference to his skin color.