Anzhi Makhachkala defender Christopher Samba has hit out at Zenit St Petersburg fans who this week claimed black players are being 'imposed' on the club.
Zenit's largest supporters group, Landscrona, caused widespread outrage on Monday when they posted an open letter on their website that outlined their "principles for selection". Landscrona object to "representatives of sexual minorities playing for Zenit" while adding that "black players are being imposed on Zenit almost by force".
Former Congo international Samba, who joined Anzhi from Blackburn in February, has already been the victim of racist abuse while playing in the Russian Premier League. "I'm not surprised. Everybody knows Zenit supporters are no good and racist," Samba said of the Landscrona letter in quotes reported by BBC Sport.
He added: "They are living in another century. It's a sad day for Russian football."
Zenit's director of sport Dietmar Beiersdorfer and coach Luciano Spalletti later distanced the club from the comments, which have added more fuel to the issue of racism in Russian football.
"In this time we have different communities and countries that constitute teams," Samba said. "If they can't accept that then they are never going to progress.
"It's really sad. It's slowing down the process of Russian football being a better league. I hope the Russian federation do the necessary to sanction it."
Zenit was the only Russian top-flight team without a black player in their squad until this summer, when they signed Hulk and Axel Witsel from Porto and Benfica respectively.
However, they remain the only club in the Premier League to have never signed an African player.
Source: PA
