The Ghana Football Association has condemned the ‘vile racist abuse’ directed at Ghanaian international Emmanuel Frimpong during a league match in Russia between his club FC UFA and Spartak Moscow.
The player was sent off after he reacted to monkey chants directed at him, gesturing at the hostile fans with his middle finger.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ZOkRyAXsqMcgvBQ2T0Hz8qCMB8QlVuWe”]”When the match was stopped, the fans started shouting ‘monkey’ at me. I just did not keep my cool, I showed my emotions and it was my mistake,” Frimpong said after the game.
Ufa general director Shamil Gazizov said his club would not be calling for Spartak to be punished, describing it as an “unfortunate incident”.
“There were people who could have shouted things. These are emotions which go away after the game. We are partners with the red and whites and are on good terms. What Frimpong did was wrong. Sometimes you even have to hold back the tears and just put up with it,” he said.
The GFA, in a statement released on its website said that though it did not condone Frimpong’s reaction to the abuse, the response from the Russian club was unacceptable.
“It beats our imagination that his club UFA criticised the Ghanaian player without condemning the Spartak Moscow supporters who provoked him with this despicable racist abuse.
“The act of singling out Frimpong for criticism, when he was clearly provoked by these money chants while the perpetrators of the act have been let off, indelibly stain football’s tenets and principles,” the statement said.
The GFA has called for football’s world, European and Russian governing bodies to ensure that the culprits are brought to justice in order to deter other potential perpetrators.
“As this incident occurred within a stadium in Russia, it is within the Russian Football Union, UEFA and FIFA’s remit to act. It is a matter for all the concerned football authorities to investigate the incident further and the culprits brought to justice as soon as possible.
The GFA wants the football authorities to act by sending a strong signal to the racists who abused Emmanuel Frimpong on Friday that there is no complacency about dealing with the scourge of racism in football across the globe.”
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana