FORMER Chelsea star Alexei Smertin has been put in charge of investigating racism in Russian football -despite appearing to deny its existence in 2015.
Russia is under intense scrutiny ahead of the 2018 World Cup after a number of racist and violent incidents, prompting their FA to set up the commission.
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But the 55-cap international, who also played for Portsmouth in the top flight, received criticism in 2015 when he played down the significance of racism in the Russian game.
Despite being plagued by a number of racist incidents, Smertin – who also serves as an ambassador for the 2018 tournament – claimed the foreign media were just trying to give Russia a bad reputation.
He told the BBC: “There’s no racism in Russia, definitely, because you know it does not exist. It’s just like a fashion. It comes from abroad, from different countries.”
“Fan abuse is something against the opposition, not against a person. It was never, ever here before. Ten years ago, some fans may have given a banana to black guys – it was just for fun.”
Smertin said his new role as the Russian Football Union’s anti-racism and discrimination inspector will see him “put every effort into keeping racism and discrimination out of the story of football in my country.”
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He added: “Ahead of the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup, Russia, as a country hosting such big international tournaments, should be an example of global tolerance both on and off the football field.
“And we will definitely show that.”
A racism campaign group FARE reported 92 incidents of discriminatory displays and chants by Russian fans in and around stadiums during the 2014-15 season, the last for which figures are available.
FARE said there were 83 incidents in the previous two seasons combined.
Smertin won the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield during his time at Stamford Bridge, having joined from Bordeaux in 2003.
After football, the Russia international became a politician was elected as an MP in the Atai region of his homeland.
It comes after Partizan Belgrade midfielder Everton Luiz left the field in floods of tears after being racially abused throughout their match against local rivals Rad in Serbia.
Every time Luiz, 28, touched the ball during Sunday's match, spectators reportedly made monkey noises aimed at the Brazilian ace.
And before the end of the game, Rad fans unveiled a vile banner insulting Luiz and causing the match to be halted.
On the final whistle, Luiz made a one-fingered gesture at the rival fans who had to be restrained by police.
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