Eto’o Slams Fans After Europa League Racism Incident

© RIA Novosti . Alexander Vilf / Go to the mediabankSamuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o - Sputnik International
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Ex-Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o hit out Tuesday at fans who racially abused supporters of his Anzhi team at a Europa League game last week.

Ex-Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o hit out Tuesday at fans who racially abused supporters of his Anzhi team at a Europa League game last week.

Fans of Lokomotiv Moscow and other clubs in the Russian capital flocked to Anzhi’s match against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar on Thursday to protest Anzhi using Lokomotiv’s stadium, and chanted racist abuse at Anzhi fans, most of whom hail from the Russian province of Dagestan in the Caucasus.

The match, which ended 1-0 to Anzhi, was played in Moscow because Anzhi’s home region has been banned from hosting European games by UEFA due to security concerns.

“I was not very happy about the behavior of the fans at the match with AZ,” Eto’o said.

“I think about being tolerant and I hope that people will listen to me. We should live in a dialog and then we will be able to improve the atmosphere not just at the stadiums, but overall.”

If Anzhi beat AZ on aggregate after Thursday’s second leg and reach the Europa League group stage, it is not clear where their home matches would be held. Moving the ties abroad would be wrong, Eto’o said.

“Hosting the matches abroad would be wrong,” he said.

“When clubs play in Europe we can sell the image of Russia to people. In that way we offer an opportunity for people across Europe to discover Russia for themselves.”

Eto'o said that he did not consider Dagestan too unsafe to host European football, comparing the situation to Israel.

"In Israel, not everything's completely quiet either, but Champions League and Europa League matches take place there," he said.
Anzhi’s home games in the earlier qualifying rounds were held at a largely disused stadium in the town of Ramenskoe near Moscow.

Their only previous European campaign, in the 2001-02 season, saw their UEFA Cup first round tie with Scotland’s Rangers cut to one match and played on neutral turf in Poland, again for security concerns, with Rangers winning 1-0.

Dagestan is one of Russia’s poorest regions, seen as a hotbed of terrorist activity and the origin of several deadly attacks over the last few years.
As recently as May, 14 people were killed and 122 wounded in suicide blasts in Anzhi's home city of Makhachkala.

 

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