Liverpool have expressed concerns over potential racial abuse and have contacted Russian club Zenit St Petersburg regarding the matter.
The Reds will travel to Russia on Thursday to play the round of 32 tie but have major concerns because of Zenit fans’ reputation for racism.
The Russian club published a document where they clearly stated they will not allow the squad to have any non-white or homosexual players but Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre will tell the players not to react to any provocations.
Ayre said as quoted in the press : “We plan to speak to the players about it. The most important thing is that they remain professional throughout this. The important thing is that we let them know how we expect them to act if there is an incident.
“I’d much rather we take the incident off the pitch and we deal with it. Obviously the referee has a role to play within that. But we’ll be briefing our players on what’s acceptable and what’s not.”
AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off after being racially targeted during a friendly match last month and was backed for such gestures by the club and many others but Liverpool will tell the players to not follow that path if they are racially abused at Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday night unless the referee orders it.
Ayre wrote to UEFA expressing the club’s concern and also to Zenith and hopes to get an adequate response and support on the night.
Liverpool express racism fears ahead of Europa League tie « footylatest.com
DISCLAIMER: This article was not been written by Blog Admin and does not represent the views of Blog Admin. www.lfcspeak.blogspot.com do not take any responsibility for the contents.
