MOSCOW (Reuters) - The opening match of the Russian Premier League season was overshadowed on Friday by racist chants directed at Ufa's Ghanaian midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong who was sent off after he raised a finger to the crowd in response.
The former Arsenal player was subjected to monkey chants during their 2-2 draw against Spartak Moscow and, after being dismissed for his reaction, questioned the country's hosting of the 2018 World Cup when such incidents still occurred.
"(A) human being shouldn't be racially abused for the game that I love," the 23-year-old said on Twitter.
"I'm going to serve a sentence for being abused.. and yet we going to hold a World Cup in this country where Africans will have to come play football."
Frimpong said the actions of one fan had tainted the rest of the Spartak supporters -- whom he praised.
"When the match was stopped, the fans started shouting 'monkey' at me," he told reporters. "Then the monkey chants started.
"I don't have any problems with the Spartak fans in general. I just did not keep my cool, I showed my emotions and it was my mistake. I want to say sorry for what I did," he added.
Ufa general director Shamil Gazizov said his club would not seek punishment for Spartak.
"It was an unfortunate incident. There were people who could have shouted things. These are emotions which go away after the game. We are partners with the red and whites and are on good terms," he said.
"What Frimpong did was wrong. 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 visitors took the lead in the 12th minute through a header from Bosnian forward Haris Handzic, but the hosts equalised in the 24th through Serdar Tasci following a corner.
Spartak tried to seize the initiative after Frimpong's dismissal, but it was Ufa who took the lead through defender Dmitri Stotski before Spartak's new signing Ze Luis equalised 11 minutes from time.
The match was Dmitri Alenichev's first in charge as head coach of Spartak after Murat Yakin was sacked.
