Guelor Kanga, a Gabonese midfielder playing for Russia’s FC Rostov club has been banned for three games for directing a lewd gesture at Spartak Moscow fans on Thursday after allegedly hearing racist chants coming from the audience stands.
Guelor Kanga, a Gabonese midfielder playing for Russia’s FC Rostov club has been banned for three games for directing a lewd gesture at Spartak Moscow fans on Thursday after allegedly hearing racist chants coming from the audience stands.
The Russian Football Union issued a three-match ban to the 24 year old, in addition to a $750 fine for his behavior on the field according to BBC Sport.
Spartak Moscow club was also sanctioned for the conduct of their fans and received a $1000.00 fine, but were spared heavier penalties as video footage of the game did not reveal fans to have made explicitly-racist comments.
Although Football authorities across Europe have taken a firm stand against racism in sport, Russia is one of many countries where football players of African origin continue to experience incidents of racist tauntings from fans.
Only three months ago, Christopher Samba, a Congolese-French defender who plays for the Russian club Dynamo Moscow, received a match suspension for inappropriate response to racially-offensive chants from fans.