- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Russian communist group hits out at 'unpatriotic' Arshavin

Subscribe
A Russian communist group based in St. Petersburg has criticized Zenit star Andrei Arshavin over his desire to sign for a foreign side.
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian communist group based in St. Petersburg has criticized Zenit star Andrei Arshavin over his desire to sign for a foreign side.

The Communists of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region said on Monday on their website that Arshavin, 27, was typical of a growing number of Russian sportsmen who were willing to "betray" their homeland in order to play in the West.

"The behavior of Arshavin causes all communists and patriots to feel shame and disgust," the group's statement said, accusing the forward of "displaying for sale his body for many months in front of covetous Western clubs."

Zenit St. Petersburg, owned by Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom, rejected bids this summer from Barcelona and Tottenham as "too low."

Arshavin, who came sixth in voting for the 2008 European Footballer of the Year, has said that he will not play for the side anymore if the club refuses to release him this winter, stating that he will remain a Zenit player "on paper only." He has since been linked with moves to England, Germany and Italy.

The communist group, a separate organization from the Communist Party, urged Arshavin to "rethink" his wish to move abroad.

"Andrei - stay!" the statement read. "You have not yet lost all your morals, but you are half a step away."

The group warned him that if he were to sign for "Tottenham, or any other side," he would lose his "spiritual connection with Mother Russia, and the Russian people will never forgive you. Zenit will survive without you, but can you survive without Leningrad, without your homeland?" the group went on, using the Soviet-era name for St. Petersburg.

"Those communists are completely wrong," a Russian MP and member of a parliamentary committee on youth affairs commented.

"They know nothing about sport or soccer," said Maxim Mishchenko. "Arshavin needs to grow, to play for foreign clubs."

Arshavin, who is due to play what could be his last match for Zenit on Wednesday in Madrid against Real in a Champions League game, has not commented on the accusations.

The group earlier hailed Zenit's May 2008 UEFA Cup semi-final victory over German side Bayern Munich as a "blow against NATO." It also made headlines throughout Europe by accusing the latest Bond girl, Ukrainian Olga Kurylenko, of a "moral and intellectual betrayal" in starring in a movie about the "enemy of the Soviet people."

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала