MOSCOW, March 21 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Football Union has launched a dedicated taskforce to tackle racism in the game, just days after a banana was thrown at Anzhi defender Christopher Samba after a game, the federation said Wednesday.
“The RFU’s ethics committee has decided to create a special working group made up of members of the committee,” the federation said on its website, adding that the body would address “racism, xenophobia and extremism.”
The banana was apparently thrown from the VIP seats at Lokomotiv Moscow’s stadium after a 1-0 league win for the home team, and landed near Samba, who threw it off the pitch.
Russia is set to host the 2018 World Cup, but there are fears it could be disrupted by racism, as the domestic game has been plagued by racist incidents.
Earlier this season, Anzhi’s Roberto Carlos was the victim of two incidents involving bananas, while fan groups at Spartak Moscow have been known to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday at games.
Russian Premier League clubs Zenit St. Petersburg and Krylya Sovetov were each fined $10,000 after their fans racially abused Roberto Carlos.
After a meeting of the federation’s disciplinary committee Wednesday, it was announced that the Samba case would be dealt with at an unspecified later date.
Last week, the federation ordered Torpedo Moscow to play their next home game behind closed doors after fans shouted racist slogans and threw snowballs at Ivorian-born Alania Vladikavkaz defender Dacosta Goore.
