RACISM AND REMOTE VENUES MAR RUSSIA’S WORLD CUP BID

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Thursday, 02 December 2010 09:00
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Haminu Draman thinks African teams might find it hard to play in a World Cup in Russia due to racism

In a beautiful stretch of forest on the outskirts of Moscow where many wealthy Russians have their dachas, lies the training ground of one of the country's top football clubs, Lokomotiv.


The green turf of the pitch stands out from the hard, frozen ground surrounding it.

The club's press officer is nervous about letting us in to watch the team practice ahead of its last premier league match of the season.

It's a crucial time, just before Fifa's announcement about who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Russia, which has not held the tournament before, is viewed as a leading contender for 2018, with British bookmakers making it the favourite – ahead of England and the joint bid of Spain and Portugal.

Russia's footballing community is now collectively holding its breath and wants only positive news to appear in the media.

But we're here because of a serious concern about racism.

Lokomotiv was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in August when fans put up a banner with a picture of a banana on it, “thanking” the English club West Bromwich Albion for buying the Nigerian player Peter Odemwingie.

We have all the resources it takes to organise it very well and it will certainly leave a lasting legacy in a huge country – and in many neighbouring countries as well.'

Alexei Sorokin
Head of Russian World Cup bid
Today Lokomotiv still has plenty of foreign players in its squad including Haminu Draman from Ghana.

At the end of the training session, he described what it was like being a black player in Russia.

“If you play against some clubs that don't have blacks in their team, especially in St Petersburg, it's crazy,” he said.

“If you are black certain things happen…..I'm ok, I just play my game, I am not listening to these people.”

After the verbal racial abuse he says he's suffered over the past three years, he's concerned about Fifa letting Russia host the World Cup.

“Some people will not like it because of the racism in Russia and I hope everyone knows about it.”

“I think if the other countries like Africa qualify for the World Cup when it's hosted by Russia, I think it's going to be hard for them too, unless these kind of things change here.”

Commitment
Racism is deeply engrained in this country, with one football expert describing how black people would be “looked on with curiosity like wild animals” in areas where they've not been seen before.

But the head of the Russian bid committee, Alexei Sorokin, insists change is already underway after the Russian football union adopted a substantial anti-racism programme.

“We will gradually cope with this problem, we don't see any problem with that.” Continued
Source: NBF News - NBF News


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