2 good NY Times soccer reads on Egypt's Al-Ahly by @JamesPiotrhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/sports/soccer/in-wake-of-deadly-riot-egyptian-soccer-team-plays-on.html?ref=sports … and Zenit's fan racism/homophobiahttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/sports/soccer/russian-soccer-fans-marching-backward-to-intolerance.html?ref=jerelongman …
Russian Soccer Fans Marching Backward to Intolerance
The New York Times 
Dmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press
Zenit St. Petersburg fans, marching before a match last spring, have called on the Russian championship soccer team to exclude black and gay players.
By JERÉ LONGMAN
Published: December 18, 2012
A year in which racism and xenophobia have marred European soccer has brought another brazen act of intolerance. The largest fan club of Zenit St. Petersburg, the two-time defending Russian champion, has demanded that the team include no black or gay players.
Olga Maltseva/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
After Hulk, signing autographs with Axel Witsel, right, joined Zenit St. Petersburg, a fake bomb was found at the training site.
Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters
Until early September, Zenit St. Petersburg had never included a black player. Then it signed Hulk of Brazil, second from left, and Axel Witsel of Belgium, right.
The prominent group of Zenit supporters, known as Landscrona, posted a letter on its Web site on Monday, saying it wanted to preserve the traditional identity of the team by signing only homegrown players or those from Slavic nations like Ukraine and Belarus, from the Baltic nations or from Scandinavia. The club did not have a black player until late summer and has a history of prejudiced behavior by some of its fans.
“Dark-skinned players are all but forced down Zenit’s throat now, which only brings out a negative reaction,” the fan group said, adding that gay players were “unworthy of our great city.”
Antiracism officials said the episode was another embarrassment for Russia as it prepares to host the 2018 World Cup and for Gazprom, the government-controllednatural gas company that owns Zenit St. Petersburg and is a sponsor of the Champions League, Europe’s most important club tournament.
Late Monday night, Zenit’s sporting director, Dietmar Beiersdorfer, rebuked the fan group, saying on the club Web site, “We make our player selections without any limitation regarding origin, religion or skin color.”
Zenit’s Italian manager, Luciano Spalletti, called for inclusiveness and respect of other cultures in an interview with the club’s radio network, saying that “being tolerant means that you fight against any kind of stupidity.”
Despite Zenit’s disavowal of its fan club’s demand to sign only white players, “at some point, this policy has been practiced by the club,” said Piara Powar, the executive director of the London-based FARE network, formerly known as Football Against Racism in Europe.
Zenit was the only top-level Russian club never to include a black player until early September, when it signed the Brazilian forward Hulk and the Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel for a combined $100 million. In late September, according to Russian news accounts, a fake bomb was found in a bag at Zenit’s training site, with a photograph of Hulk and the inscription, “Hulk out!”
The French midfielder Yann M’Vila, who is black, reportedly turned down a transfer to Zenit in August after receiving threats from some of the club’s most extreme supporters, known as ultras, who have a notorious saying, “There’s no black in the colors of Zenit.”
Last year, Zenit was fined about $10,000 after one of its fans offered a banana to Roberto Carlos, the onetime Brazilian great who was finishing his club career in Russia. Later last year, Carlos walked off the field before the final whistle in a match against Zenit after a banana was thrown at him.
In 2008, Zenit’s manager at the time, Dick Advocaat of the Netherlands, said, “I would be happy to sign anyone, but the fans don’t like black players.”
In 2007, Serge Branco, a midfielder from Cameroon playing in the Russian league, saidhe incurred repeated racial abuse by Zenit fans and added, “Zenit bosses do not do anything about it, which makes me think they are racists, too.”
European soccer has dealt with a number of high-profile instances of racial abuse since last December, including the suspensions of Luis Suárez of Liverpool and John Terry of Chelsea in England’s Premier League. By degree, racism and xenophobia have historically been more virulent in Eastern Europe, with some fans making monkey chants and throwing bananas, and others giving Nazi salutes.
The Russian soccer federation was fined $150,000 at the European Championships last summer after some fans fought with stadium stewards and displayed nationalistic “Russian Empire” flags. Russian fans also clashed with Polish fans in Warsaw and were accused of racially taunting Theodor Gebre Selassie, the lone black player for the Czech Republic.
