FIFA asks Russia why it banned player for reaction to racism

MOSCOW, July 23 (UPI) -- FIFA has asked the Russian Football Union to explain an alleged racism incident by a Spartak Moscow fan who may have chanted racial epithets at FC Ufa star Emmanuel Frimpong during a match.

The midfielder was suspended for two games after he swore back. He was given a red card and ejected from the game.

Frimpong said that he heard monkey chants during the match. The RFU did not find any evidence of racism, BBC News reported.

"I'm going to serve a sentence for being abused... and yet we (are) going to hold a World Cup in this country," tweeted Frimpong.

While Russia will be hosting the 2018 World Cup, its league has been criticized for its handling of previous incidents of racism.

The Ghanaian Football Association has said it condemns the "vile racist abuse" against black players.

A report by the Fare network and the Moscow-based Sova Centre for information has documented 99 racist and far-right displays and 21 racially motivated attacks during the last two seasons. Yaya Toure, an Ivory Coast player, has recently suggested that black players may boycott the 2018 World Cup in response to the pervasive racism during live sport events.

"We have introduced punitive sanctions for clubs and offenders and they are more harsh now," Russian minister for sport Vitaly Mutko said, reported BBC News. "Another measure is a special inspector at the match whose responsibility will be to pay attention to that kind of incident so no incident is left unpunished."

United Nations official Yuri Boychenko told a news conference: "There should be more efforts by the minister of sport and by the union in this field. This is absolutely clear."

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with the outgoing head of FIFA, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, on the sidelines of a preliminary draw of the 2018 World Cup on Saturday in St. Petersburg.