Zenit supporters warned of zero tolerance on racial abuse
prison an option for offenders, says minister
Published:
ZENIT St Petersburg manager Dick Advocaat insists there will be no racist behaviour from the Russian supporters in tonight’s Uefa Cup final against Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Zenit’s supporters were accused of abusing Marseille’s black players earlier in the competition and Advocaat was quoted as saying he could not sign black players for the club due to racism among his supporters.
UK Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe claimed a zero-tolerance approach would mean any racial abuse towards Rangers’ black players such as Jean-Claude Darcheville and Amdy Faye could see them end up in prison. Advocaat assured Sutcliffe he had nothing to worry about from Zenit’s supporters.
Reminded he had allegedly said he could not sign black players, the former Holland manager retorted: “I didn’t say that. There will be no problem at all.
“It has become an issue and I don’t know why. It is not an issue at Zenit and there are black players in Russia. He (Sutcliffe) must have other concerns other than football.
“This is about a football match, not about colour.”
Advocaat played down the numerical advantage the Rangers support will have over their Zenit counterparts.
An estimated 100,000 Rangers supporters will travel to Manchester with more than 25,000 expected to be in the stadium at kick- off.
The Dutchman said: “All the Rangers supporters will not be in the stadium. We have 150million people back in Russia supporting us – including the president.”
The Zenit manager tried to play down the fact his side, who hammered Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-final while Rangers scraped through on a penalty shoot out against Fiorentina, are favourites in what will be their first European final.
“The build-up has been about Zenit being the favourites and I like that, I hope they are right,” he said.
