Zenit St Petersburg and the problem of racism

Back in December Zenit St Petersburg's largest fans' group sent an open letter to the club demanding that the team be exclusively white and excluded black and gay players.

When I read this story I was absolutely horrified and it showed exactly how much work there is still left to do with regards to eradicating prejudice from the sport.

What is even more striking to me is that no action has been taken. This blatant display of racism and homophobia by a large number of fans is abhorrent and Zenit St Petersburg should have taken the opportunity to show that they take the matter very seriously by handing out lifetime bans to the fans who demanded an all white team.

Even a higher governing body such as Fifa should have imposed some sort of sanctions on the Russian club for still allowing such narrow minded fans to attend matches in which the team fields players such as the Brazilian Hulk.

This is not the first time that Russia's racist tendencies have come to light. Bannanas have been thrown at Christopher Samba and Roberto Carlos whilst black players have been subject to racial taunts.

And I just wonder if it was the same Zenit fans who travelled to Anfield for their team's clash with Liverpoolin the Europa League and celebrated Hulk's away goal that ultimately saw them advance to the next round that wrote this open letter? Most probably and there is a sickening irony to that.

Racism is still a very significant problem in football and it is clear that not enough is being done to eliminate it.

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