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Russian FA in denial over racism - Football Against Racism in Europe

The Russian Football Union (RFS) is in "denial" over the issue of racism according to anti-discrimination group Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), and must take a tougher stance ahead of hosting the 2018 World Cup.

The RFS has come under criticism this week for imposing a two-match ban on FC Ufa's Ghanaian player Emmanuel Frimpong for his reaction to alleged racist abuse.

Spartak Moscow, whose fans were accused of taunting the former Arsenal midfielder, were not punished. Spartak were fined 20,000 rubles ($350), but because objects were thrown onto the pitch.

The incident happened in the opening game of the Russian Premier League season on Friday, while outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter has since told Russian president Vladimir Putin that the country would be a "fantastic" host of the 2018 World Cup.

FARE development officer Pavel Klymenko says the RFS must make changes with the world game's biggest tournament less than three years away, telling Omnisport: "The problem is quite significant in Russian football.

"Although when we speak about it and even when confronted with evidence, the Russian authorities tend to downplay it or deny it.

"The Russian authorities have to understand that dealing with racism... is beneficial for the Russian people themselves and for the Russian society. Russia is a very multi-cultural society dealing with more than 100 nationalities living in Russia.

"There's a lot of denial, there's a lot of downplaying the problem, and that's actually a very bad signal being sent from the very top of Russian football to the fans, to people who go to the stadiums, and especially to the far-right groups among the football fans in Russia who would now think that they can racially abuse players and just get away with it.

"There is a quite big instrumentation of sanctions available to the RSF disciplinary committee. But the problem is they have to be applied consistently and this is the biggest problem.

"When you see the reality of the sanctions, you clearly see a discrepancy. So the sanctions have to be applied consistently. It's not a question on the severity of the sanctions, it's the consistency of their applications."

Klymenko believes that Russia must deal with the far-right presence at league games in the run-up to the World Cup, as says ignoring the problems now will lead to more trouble in future.

"We have to acknowledge that the World Cup is a bit of a different environment compared to a league match," he added.

"Of course there is way more policing, and my idea is that Russia will try and deal with the far-right in football and generally with the problem, only by means of over-policing.

"They might get through for the World Cup, but if we're serious about it, we have to tackle it in the long run. Russia needs an action plan to tackle these issues step-by-step."

A report published in February by FARE found more than 200 incidents of racist and discriminatory behavior linked to Russian football over two seasons -- figures that the Russian government disputes.

Zenit St. Petersburg coach Andre Villas-Boas has defended Russia's right to host the 2018 World Cup despite recent incidents of racial prejudice and abuse, and alleged it's no different in England.

However, Zenit's star striker Hulk says he encounters racism in "almost every game" in Russia and the Brazil international fears it could tarnish the country when it hosts the 2018 tournament.

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