MOSCOW, November 21 (R-Sport) - Zenit St. Petersburg fan leaders have appealed to supporters not to use flares when Zenit host Malaga in the Champions League on Wednesday, following an incident that hospitalized a player.
A pyrotechnic thrown from the Zenit end left Dynamo Moscow’s goalkeeper Anton Shunin with eye injuries Saturday and caused the match between the two teams to be abandoned.
“We call on everyone who is going to the stands today to refrain from taking any sort of pyrotechnics,” said the statement on the website of the Landskrona fan group, Zenit’s largest.
“Guys, the situation is very serious, more serious than ever before.”
The statement said security would be stepped up at the Petrovsky stadium and warned Zenit could be banned from European competition if fans misbehave.
That is likely a reference to a UEFA reprimand Zenit received when flare-wielding fans caused a Champions League tie against APOEL Nicosia to be briefly halted last season.
Elsewhere in Russia, Siberian stadium authorities took an unusual approach to flares in the stands last month, hosing down supporters with cold water despite freezing temperatures.
