Gabonese soccer player, Guelor Kanga, competing for a Russian club was punished this week for an obscene gesture he made toward fans of an opposing club who allegedly provoked him with racial taunts, renewing concerns about how African and Black players will be received in Russia when the country hosts the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
During a game on Thursday in Moscow, fans of Spartak Moscow soccer club jeered at Guelor Kanga, who is the substantive midfielder for the FC Rostov. The fans bellowed ape sounds, frequently used in Russia to deride Black players as primates.
Kanga, in retaliation, responded by giving the fans his middle finger — an act the Russian Football Union (RFU) reportedly prohibits. As punishment for the “insulting gesture to fans,” the RFU on Friday did not only fine the Spartak Moscow club $1,300 for the behavior of its fans, Kanga was also fined $930 and suspended for three matches.
Few, however, were surprised by the fans’ behavior, as Russian soccer continues to experience a spate of racist incidents in recent years.
In fact, Igor Gamula – Kanga’s own coach – came under fire for offensive remarks he made in November when asked about rumors that FC Rostov would sign a player from Cameroon. Gamula responded that the team had “enough dark-skinned players, we’ve got six of those things.”
In September, Dynamo Moscow defender Christopher Samba – a Black Frenchman who also plays for the Congo national team – was suspended for two matches after flipping off fans who heckled him with racial insults.
Artur Grigoryants, head of the RFU’s disciplinary committee, said that in light of fan provocation, Samba was given “the lightest possible punishment.” Torpedo Moscow, the opposing club, was also sanctioned for its unruly fans by having part of its stadium shut down during its next game.
Following the incident, Samba responded: “I want to play football and not have to listen to racial taunts.”
More famously, Brazilian superstar Roberto Carlos, while playing for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in 2011, had a banana thrown at him – for a second time – by fans.
Carlos walked off the field in protest and has since referred to the offense as a “disgusting incident.”
The year before, fans of Lokomotiv Moscow raised a giant banner displaying a banana to chide Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie for allegedly not meeting their expectations on the field. However, the club was not sanctioned for the banner, and Alexey Sorokin – then-secretary general of the RFU and CEO of Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup bid committee – insisted it was not racist.
“If there would be another player – from Russia, Denmark, Norway or Japan, for example – the reaction could be the same,” Sorokin said. “In Russia ‘to get a banana’ means ‘to fail a test somewhere.’”
His disregard for the banner angered international sports fans, many of who alleged he too held racist beliefs.
Such incidents are particularly concerning to the soccer community given that Russia is slated to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 — during which players and fans of all races and ethnicities will be present.
Just this week, upon recommendation from its anti-racism task force, FIFA – soccer’s international governing body – said it would train and deploy anti-discrimination officers to be present at World Cup qualifying matches in Russia.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, FIFA said its fight against discrimination would also include a “handbook of good practices” to be distributed to FIFA member associations “to give them guidance on how to foster diversity and anti-discrimination in football in their countries.
“The Task Force also agreed on the importance of using the 2018 FIFA World Cup as a platform to raise awareness on the issue and showcase FIFA’s zero-tolerance policy against any form of discrimination.”
The FIFA statement comes one month after Tokyo Sexwale, an anti-racism adviser to FIFA, told the Associated Press that Black players could potentially boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia over the growing number of racist interactions between fans and players, and pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to do something about the problem.
“Once these things start and you don’t act as leaders, these things snowball,” Sexwale said. “Show that leadership, be the Putin the world knows, be tough. Failure to do so, we could be talking something different about the 2018 World Cup … you will have people saying they will not go to Russia.”
And African players must particular not attend.
Clearly, the fans aren’t the only problem. If Igor Gamula the coach described black people as “six of those things” maybe it is just the Russians and their culture in general–how they are raised and or how they are innately, against people who are unlike them. If the coach is a racist, how can we expect the fans to be any different? Shouldn’t the coach behave in a more respectable matter than the fans? I think it is just a lost cause. Africans shouldn’t play in Russia. Let their terrible leagues suck even more without the best athletes, minds, and creative souls the world has to offer!
Why don’t those white folk in Russia stop acting like a bunch of untamed beasts?
It seems like this racism problem is all over the world, and really I mean the white world. What is wrong here? Am I missing something?
Guelor Kanga should not be punished for reacting to racist fans. And neither should any African who reacts to racism. How else should they react? Take it and not say anything? I agree, Africans should boycott the event, because FIFA has to get the message that Africans will not play under conditions of harassment.
Russians should be banned from having football in their country if they don’t know how to act. In fact, all of Europe should be banned unless they can get their acts together and act like civilized human beings. If they need to learn how to do that, visit Africa for a few months and hopefully you will learn something.
TURN OFF WORLD CUP 2018 RUSSIA.
How great would it be if no television or computer tuned into the World Cup from an African home or a black family around the world?
it would be MONUMENTAL.
It would mean that black people across the globe finally took a stand against racism.
FIFA has been warned.
African players deserve respect. They are the world’s best players. If you fail to show them respect, it is only because you are racist. No player from another origin is going to be better. No white man is going to be faster than USAIN BOLT. It’s genetics. It’s why the NBA is still interesting and major league baseball is a dying pasttime.
Show African players respect or else soccer will go the way of baseball. Because when Africans leave the sport, the SPORT LEAVES WITH IT.
Why are racist fans SO DISRESPECTFUL?
Let us boycott this world cup. Please let us just do it.
I’m tied of these RACIST FUKIN Russian Bastards. They are the most corrupt and money greedy monsters on earth!!! BOYCOTT ALL VISITS TO THE cest pool of a country until they learn to accept others as human beings. The Russians and Ukrainians have also brought their hatred with them to NYC. If you HATE dark skinned people then why the HELL DID thousands of you migrate to NYC like cattle? I was shoved on the N train whilst attempting to sit near an older Russian speaking woman. If it were another person she could have been harmed. Stop hating for no apparent reason. You are not superior! Your hatred makes you seem UGLY! BMWs, Mercedes and GUCCI clothing will not exhalt you.