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Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas, currently manager at Zenit Saint Petersburg, has defended Russian football against “unfair” accusations of racist abuse.
The issue of racism in the Russian game emerged once more this week when former Arsenal player Emmanuel Frimpong was sent off for reacting to monkey chants from Spartak Moscow fans.
His club director at Ufa refused to criticise his opponents and Frimpong has received a two game ban for his response. Spartak received no sanction for the behaviour of their fans, a decision that the Ghanaian international described as “beyond a joke”.
Whilst Villas-Boas admitted that racism was a problem in the game he warned that Russia was not the only country in which he had seen it, singling out England as another nation where the situation was just as bad.
Villas-Boas told Sky News: “Obviously, there are occasional episodes with violence and racism, but I have seen the same in England, to the same extent. So I don't see that it's a problem.
“I think at the moment because of the political situation surrounding Russia, it's a stamp that people are trying to attach to this World Cup. In my opinion, it's a bit unfair at the moment.
“I think it's not different to any other country.”
The manager’s sentiment was not shared by Zenit player Hulk. The £35.5 million signing backed Frimpong earlier this week, saying he received racist abuse “at almost every match”.
Russia will host the 2018 World Cup but Frimpong and others have suggested that this was the wrong decision. In late 2013 Yaya Toure warned that black players may consider boycotting the tournament if the situation did not improve.
But Villas-Boas said he was confident that the 2018 event would be “a wonderful event”. He added:
"I think there are big conditions for the World Cup, because there are big investments, there are good stadiums, there are and there will be magnificent stadiums."
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"The World Cup has gone through South Africa, through Brazil. These countries have problems with violence (but) they have been wonderfully organised World Cup.
"At least from my small experience in this country I had no problems whatsoever. The experiences that I have gone through, I have gone through in other countries too."
