Emmanuel Frimpong shows middle finger after ‘racial abuse from fans’

Former Arsenal man Frimpong was involved in a tangle with a Spartak by the corner flag in the opening match of the Russian Premier League season, when he appeared to react to the crowd after giving away a free-kick.

The Ghana worldwide has apologised for using a foul-mouthed attack at the fan who racially abused him in the country that will host the World Cup in three years’s time but lamented the decision to send him off with a prospect of a further ban in a country that condones racism.

In a series of tweets he later said: “Want to apologize for the sending off after being provoked shouldn’t have happened but also am a human being shouldn’t be racially abused for the game that I love”.

“We believe that the hosting of the Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup offers a great opportunity to say no to racism and any other form of discrimination and send a clear message to the world in this regards”.

Ufa general director Shamil Gazizov said his club would not seek punishment for Spartak.

The 23-year-old was playing for Ufa at Spartak Moscow when he saw red, seeming to make an obscene gesture at supporters.

Frimpong was on the wrong side of arguably one of the worst refereeing decisions of the season on Friday night as he was sent-off whilst playing for Russian outfit FC Ufa after reacting angrily to racial abuse. “Sometimes you even have to hold back the tears and just put up with it”, Gazizov added.

Frimpong was shown the red card just after the half hour mark in Moscow with the score 1-1.

The match was Dmitri Alenichev’s first in charge as head coach of Spartak after Murat Yakin was sacked in the summer.

“I liked the way we played today, but we have things to work on, especially concerning our need to take our chances”, Alenichev told reporters.