Fans of North Caucasian teams speak out against racism

On October 6, 2010, fans of the North Caucasian football teams (Terek, Alania, Spartak-Nalchik, Anji) made anti-racist statements.

“ We want the arenas of Russian stadiums were free from manifestations of aggression towards the opponent, from manifestations fascism, nationalism, confessional intolerance ,” said the fans Nalchik Spartak. « Silence of such phenomena harms Russian football, allows them to grow and take on a permanent character ,” reads a statement from the fan club website commands. The fans of the fan club (FC) "Anji" on their website stressed that they oppose any form of manifestation extremism, fascism and racism, no matter whose fans it comes from .”

Fan clubs "Alan Barsy" and "Terek" applied to the leadership of the Russian Football Union (RFU) and the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL), in which they demanded "to be more actively involved in the implementation of FIFA and UEFA programs to combat racism “Say no to racism!”, plan and implement programs to combat racism, oblige football clubs to carry out prevention among their fans, come up with a legislative initiative to consolidate measures responsibility for manifestations of racism at football matches, nationalism, xenophobia and religious intolerance (such as, for example, a ban on attending football matches by hooligans) and plans for their practical implementation.

“ In recent years, ideas of racism, nationalism, xenophobia and religious intolerance have found fertile ground in our stadiums, especially among football fans ,” stated in their address. Fans of the Vladikavkaz "Alania" reported that they, like other fans of the teams of Dagestan, Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria, were more than once subjected to “ attacks and provocations by radical groups of fans and repeatedly became " objects national and confessional hatred ".

The reason for these appeals of the teams was an incident that occurred during the match Anji - Spartak in Makhachkala on October 3, 2010. On the west stand was deployed an anti-fascist banner, which, according to FC Anji, is a reaction to banner Spartak fans , deployed at the match "Rubin" - "Spartak" in April 2009. Because of the image of the swastika in Spartak rhombus banner was interpreted as fascist, which caused a loud resonance. In addition, during and after the game, there were clashes between Spartak fans and local OMON officers, and a bus with Moscow fans after the match was fired from a traumatic weapon on highway Makhachkala - Astrakhan. In connection with the unrest, FC Anji was fined and received a “final warning” at a meeting of the RFU FTC. Spartak was also fined for the behavior of the fans.

According to the statement of FC Anji, what happened " should be given an objective assessment by the football authorities, clubs and public, based on real facts without inciting mutual hostility. We can't afford to translate complicated relationships between fan factions. on the plane of international relations .

Executive Director of the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) Sergey Cheban said that the incident in Makhachkala has not been exhausted and will be taken additional measures, because " we we hope to win the bid to host the 2018 World Cup, but for this we need to build normal, civilized relations ." Sources

• Statement by PFC Spartak Nalchik fans // Site of PFC "Spartak-Nalchik" fans. 2010. October 6th.
• Appeal of fans to the RFU and RFPL // Website of FC "Alania" (Vladikavkaz). 2010. October 6th.
• Open letter to FC Anji // Website of FC "Anji". 2010. October 6th.
• Appeal of football fans of the Chechen Republic to the Russian Football Union // Website of FC "Anji". 2010. October 6th.
• Fans of "Alania" and "Terek" urged the RFU to actively fight against racism // Football of Russia. 2010. October 7th.
• Liverpool found a new owner // Soviet sport. 2010. October 7th.
• Shibanov S. Fans of Caucasian teams ask to eradicate racism // Infox.ru. 2010. October 7th.
• Actions of the police at the match with "Spartak" were adequate - FC "Anji" // RIA News. 2010. October 6th.
• The incident with football fans in Makhachkala is not over - RFPL // RIA News. 2010. October 7th.