Former Russia captain Alexei Smertin has claimed that racism does not exist in Russia, amid allegations of widespread racism at football grounds in the 2018 World Cup host nation.
In the first game of the current Russian season, former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong, who is Ghanaian and currently playing for Ufa, was shown a red card after reacting to what he said was racial abuse, an incident being investigated by FIFA.
However, former Chelsea midfielder Smertin, now an ambassador for his country's successful World Cup bid, claims that racism is not something which is inherent to Russia, despite describing behaviour which could be construed as racist as "just for fun".
"There is no racism in Russia, because it does not exist," the 40-year-old told BBC Sport. "It is something against the opposition, not against a person.
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"Racism in Russia is like fashion - it comes from abroad, from different countries. It was never, ever here before. Ten years ago, some fans may have given a banana to black guys - it was just for fun.
"I think the media is making the wrong image of Russia."
Football anti-discrimination group Fare earlier this year documented more than 100 incidents of racist and discriminatory behaviour linked to Russian football over the space of just two seasons.
Tom Nightingale
