MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - A top Russian football official said Sunday the Russian Premier League will probe an incident when Spartak Moscow fans were reportedly beaten and detained before a soccer match with their rival team Zenit in St. Petersburg.
Spartak Moscow lost to Zenit St. Petersburg 1-2 on Sunday.
"According to our data, Spartak fans gathered to form a column to go to the Petrovsky stadium an hour before the match. But OMON [riot police] stopped Spartak fans," said Andrei Malosolov, the Russian Football Union chief spokesman.
"After that, the fans were beaten, seated into police trucks and taken to nearby police stations," Malosolov, who is also a vice president of the All-Russian Fan Union, told RIA Novosti. "The fans displayed no aggression."
Malosolov said the fans were released only after the match ended, adding that Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko was informed about the incident.
Earlier St. Petersburg police reported that several hundred Spartak fans were detained in the northern city.
"About 400 Spartak fans were detained outside the stadium. Black masks, smoke flares, gas spray containers and brass knuckles were seized from them," a police spokesman said.
