Torpedo Moscow Cancel Contract of Black Footballer After Fan Protests
July 20, 2018
Torpedo Moscow have rescinded the contract of Erving Botaka-Yoboma after supporters protested against the new signing because of his race.
As relayed by Martin Boychuk of Goal, Torpedo president Elena Yelentseva confirmed the decision after a backlash from supporters.
In addition to their racial objections, fans of the Moscow club were reportedly unhappy Botaka-Yoboma's previously played for Torpedo's local rivals Lokomotiv Moscow.
As noted by Boychuk, the defender is a Russian citizen and a product of the Torpedo academy setup. Journalist Artur Petrosyan provided a translation of a banner supporters unveiled following Botaka-Yoboma's signing:
Alexander Zotov, who is the head of the All-Russian Union of Footballers, condemned the Torpedo supporters, per Tom Farmery of the MailOnline.
"There have been changes in attitude after the World Cup, but a group of idiots still remains," Zotov said. "People with a limited worldview exist in any country. We saw how open our society and people were [during the World Cup]."
Per Farmery, the club's owner Roman Avdeyev had previously said "there is no 'skin colour' in our criteria."
As noted by Boychuk, Russian clubs have faced similar issues before. In 2012, Zenit St Petersburg supporters wrote an open letter to the club calling for all black players to be left out of the side after the signings of Hulk and Axel Witsel.
