Roman Shirokov Insults Zenit St. Petersburg Supporters

Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Roman Shirokov used a derrogatory term in reference to club supporters after their UEFA Champions League match against Cypriot outfit APOEL, according to RT (the global news website from Russia).

During the Champions League tie with APOEL—which took place in St. Petersburg, Russia—the home side's supporters began throwing smoke bombs which interrupted the match on two occasions.

Referee Felix Brych had to order the two teams to return to their locker rooms until calm was restored. Roman Shirokov attempted to reason with the crowd without success.

Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti intervened and was able to restore order in the match. However, Shirokov was so enraged by the behavior of the home support that he used the derrogatory term in an interview after the match.

The two sides remained scoreless in this latest encounter. Therefore, Zenit are currently in second place in Group G of the competition and must defeat Porto to advance.

Zenit St. Petersburg remained in the news after one of the club's supporters was arrested for a bomb threat against the local NTV Channel. The fan was angry that he had to see the UEFA Champions League on NTV Pay TV instead of Russian Public TV.

The fan made his threatening call to NTV before the beginning of the tie. In the end, the irate fan was arrested under Russia's strong anti-terrorism laws.

The events in St. Petersburg, Russia makes one think that the country has a long way to go in a short time to prepare for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.