617 total views,  3 views today

Former Barcelona winger Malcom could leave Zenit Saint Petersburg just days after joining the Russian club from Barcelona. A section of Zenit fans displayed their disapproval the player’s recruitment during his debut against Krasnodar.

Supporters of the Russian giants protested the signing of the 22 years old ex-Barcelona star in a £36million deal last week. During their 1-1 draw with Krasnodar, the disgusting supporters unfurled a banner slamming the club for straying away from “tradition” by signing a black player.

The poster sarcastically read: “Thank you leadership for loyalty to traditions.”

Now, reports in Russia have claimed Zenit are considering selling Malcom in order to pacify fans, who penned a length manifesto titled: “Zenit and black players.

Although Zenit have not made any official statement, they are reports in Russia that the club may seek a new team for Malcom in January in the face of their fans unrest. Zenit could sell Malcom in January because of problems with racism.

It should be noted that Black players in Russia are no strangers to racist incidents and Zenit’s Krestovsky Stadium was the scene of monkey chants aimed at France internationals Paul Pogba and Ousmane Dembélé during a pre-World Cup friendly in April 2018. Although the tournament passed off largely without incident, black players are regularly subjected to insensitive treatment in the Russian league and sometimes by their own clubs.

Last year, Spartak posted an image of Pedro Rocha, Fernando and Luiz Adriano during a training camp in Dubai with accompanying text that read: See how chocolate melt in the sun.

There has been little if any genuine attempt to stamp out racist incidents in Russian stadiums despite anti-discrimination group, Fare documenting over 100 cases across two season in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup.