ZENIT ULTRAS - BEST MOMENTS

ZENIT ULTRAS - BEST MOMENTS Most stories have two sides to be told, and the tale of Saint Petersburg and its football team is no different. Racism and bigotry have blighted the reputation of Zenit in recent years, with one of the most idiosyncratic and original fan groups in the country responsible for international outrage over their brazenly controversial proclamations. It could be argued that the relationship between them and the outside world is a microcosm of Russia’s global outlook; there is no single clear answer in the search for the identity of the club, just as the whole country is not simply an extension of Vladimir Putin’s awkward foreign policies. Three years ago, an infamous open letter was sent to the management at the Petrovsky Stadium from the Landscrona group demanding that the club not sign any black or homosexual players. Worldwide reaction was instantly and justifiably outraged by the statement, as writers, fans and clubs rounded on the ultras without hesitation. To western observers, and most Russian observers too, there could be no excusing such a horrific view. A few days later, Landscrona attempted to mitigate their stance by explaining that they were merely trying to defend what they held to be their strong city identity, but by then the mud had well and truly stuck. One must take a step back at this point and take in the city, the country and their history to understand how such a statement could have been made in the first place. It is unthinkable that similar sentiments could be broadcast in England today, but then the 20th century, in particular, saw completely different eras engulf either side of the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union was a closed country for over 70 years, where freedom of speech, foreign travel and worldwide education was strictly controlled, whereas Western Europe began working towards the formation of the European Union after the Second World War. Throughout Russia’s thousand-year history, foreign aggressors such as Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Adolf Hitler had attempted to conquer the vast land, so a natural insularity and wariness of outsiders has developed in the Russian mentality. There is clearly no defence of the racist message of Landscrona’s manifesto, but it is worth remembering that only thirty years ago monkey chants and bananas were not uncommon sights at English grounds, and it was less than forty years ago when Laurie Cunningham became the first black player to represent the full England side. You could count on one hand the number of professional footballers who have publicly announced their homosexuality. In modern-day England, the rhetoric of Landscrona’s letter is of course racist and bigoted, but half a century ago the terraces of Stamford Bridge or Anfield might not have regarded the sentiments in quite the same way as today’s football community. What merits discussion is the insistence made in the second statement that players for a club ought to represent the city, the region and country, a point Jonathan Wilson made in The Guardian. “Let’s imagine fans of Sunderland … get together and hammer out a manifesto which they then post as an open letter to the club hierarchy,” he wrote in 2012 when discussing the Landscrona letter. “Among a number of points about the need for absolute commitment and an abhorrence of cheating, they suggest they would rather the club focus on local players. “How would the world regard that? Most would surely accept that, if nothing else, a strong local identity can help foster a sense of common purpose. Why shouldn’t Sunderland fans dream of a team built around half a dozen Wearsiders?” He went on to say that while the inherent xenophobia in the manifesto is unacceptable, “the document is a much more nuanced and interesting document than anybody reading only the British press would have realised.” What is the identity of St. Petersburg then, if Landscrona claim it is central to their ethos? From the world-famous Hermitage Museum to the Marinskiy Theatre and St Isaac’s Cathedral, the 42 islands that make up the ‘Venice of the North’ are littered with shining beacons of imperial pomp and majesty. Despite the city’s relatively brief history since Peter the Great founded his “window to Europe” in 1703, it has attracted a reputation for cultivating and inspiring artistic minds that Russia’s progressive leader would have been proud of. Read more :