The Russian Football Union have appointed their first ever dedicated anti-racism official ahead of holding the World Cup in 2018, reports Yahoo Sports.
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The Union president Nikolai Tolstykh has announced that Alexei Tolkachev has been appointed in the role. Tolkachev already deals with the issue as the head of safety and fan outreach. It is not clear what powers have been bestowed upon the position as of yet.
On being appointed, the new ‘anti-racism inspector’ has said that he will take a “zero tolerance” approach to the problem, which he believes starts with education according to journalist James Masters.
Russia’s anti-racism chief Alexei Tolkachev says RFU to implement “zero tolerance” approach to any kind of discrimination in football.
— James Masters (@Masters_JamesD) March 31, 2015
Russia’s anti-racism chief Tolkachev added that racism is a “broad problem” and “it depends on how a child is brought up and education.”
— James Masters (@Masters_JamesD) March 31, 2015
FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb welcomed this news.
I commend The Russian Football Union for taking a step in the right direction by appointing Anti-Racism Inspector Alexei Tolkachev — Jeffrey Webb (@jeffreywebb) March 30, 2015
Russia has a reputation for racism in its football leagues. One example being when Christopher Samba had a banana thrown at him back in 2012, which was reported by the BBC.