Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitri Tarasov sported a pro-Vladimir Putin t-shirt to risk the wrath of football fans in Istanbul amid political tensions between Turkey and Russia.
Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitri Tarasov sported a pro-Vladimir Putin t-shirt to risk the wrath of football fans in Istanbul amid political tensions between Turkey and Russia.
According to TASS, following the final siren in the first leg match of the UEFA Europa League Round of Last 32 between Lokomotiv and Fenerbahce, held at Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul, Russian club’s footballer Dmitry Tarasov took off his team’s jersey revealing a tee-shirt with the picture of Putin captioned "The most polite president."
Russian sports lawyer Mikhail Prokopets reported on Wednesday that there was a set of UEFA’s general regulations, which was in force to all sorts of manifestations. "All political messages are prohibited, moreover, messages of all sorts are prohibited whether they are well-or ill-intended", Prokopets commented on the incident.
BBC says Lokomotiv Moscow called Tarasov's behaviour "unacceptable" in a statement on its website. Later, Tarasov defended his behaviour, saying that it's his president and he respects him.
"I decided to show that I'm always with him and prepared to give my support," he told Russian news agency R-Sport. Meanwhile, Turkish media describes the gesture as "a Putin provocation".
Considering that players are not allowed to show political statements at matches, the club itself is to be sanctioned by European football's governing body Uefa.
