Zenit St. Petersburg Fan Group Issued Manifesto Calling For Club Not to Sign Black or Gay Players
By Ty Duffy
Landscrona, the largest fan group of Russian Premier League side Zenit St. Petersburg issued a manifesto calling for the club not to sign black or homosexual players. The fans claim not to be racists. They would just prefer Zenit sign players as much like themselves as possible.
"“We’re not racists but we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition,” Zenit fan club Landscrona said in a letter, called the “Selection 12 manifesto”, posted on its website on Monday. “It would allow Zenit to maintain the national identity of the club, which is the symbol of St Petersburg.”"
The manifesto comes amidst recent, controversial additions to the squad. Zenit spent around $80 million to bring in Brazilian striker Hulk and Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel (father from Martinique). This alienated some of the Russian players, most notably Igor Denisov, captain of the Russian national team, who was demoted to the reserves after refusing to play until his contract was renegotiated.
[Photo via Getty]