Football: Carlos hit by Russia banana attack

“The stadium is no place for racism,” the club Anzhi said in a statement.

MOSCOW: Russia’s football authorities vowed to step up the fight against racism after a fan threw a banana at Roberto Carlos in an apparent racial attack on the Brazilian World Cup winner. Carlos, a defender for Anzhi Makhachkala, received a pass from the goal-keeper and was about to pass it on when a banana was thrown at him. The 38-year-old threw it back and walked off the field, raising two fingers at the stands, indicating this was the second such incident since March. Both Anzhi and their hosts – Krylya Sovetov – denounced the insult. “The stadium is no place for racism,” said Anzhi in a statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2011.