Russian player shows picture of Putin at match in Turkey

Lokomotiv midfielder Dmitriy Tarasov could be disqualified for wearing a T-shirt with the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the first match of the last 16 of the Europa League in Istanbul.

UEFA confirmed to CNN that disciplinary proceedings have been opened following Tuesday’s game, with both Lokomotiv and Fenerbahce having been charged by European football’s governing body.

Tuesday’s match was the most high-profile meeting of Russian and Turkish teams since UEFA rejected calls a year ago to separate the two countries in competition draws. “I wrote on this T-shirt everything that I wanted to say”, Tarasov said after his side lost 2-0 in the first leg of the last-32 tie.

The incident took place before the match, when the bus arrived at the stadium, but Turkish police, which provided escort for Russian fans, promptly thwarted the assault and detained three fans of Fenerbahce football club.

Igor Lebedev, member of the Russian football union’s executive committee, has criticised Tarasov’s behaviour, indicating that it would be better if the player helped his side win 3-0 over the Turkish club in the second leg match to show his patriotism.

“He’s my president, I respect him and made a decision to show that I’m with him everywhere”, the R-Sport agency quoted Tarasov as saying.

But Lokomotiv and Fenerbahce were paired in the Europa League round of 32.

Furthermore, Lokomotiv are undefeated in four European away games (W2 D2) and earned a 1-1 draw away against Besiktas in the group stages. News storiesdisplayed here appear in our category for Sports and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.comand The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered orredistributed in any form. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.