Manchester CIty have issued a formal written complaint to UEFA regarding events during last night’s match against CSKA Moscow at the Khimki Arena during which Yaya Toure claimed that he was racially abused by a section of the home crowd.
The Ivorian midfielder was furious after being singled out for abuse during the game and complained to referee Ovidiu Hategan at the time although no direct action was taken during play.
Toure went on to demand action against CSKA and was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency calling for black players to boycott the 2018 Russia World Cup if no action was taken.
“If we aren’t confident at the World Cup, coming to Russia, we don’t come.” said the Ivory Coast midfielder.
CSKA have denied that racist chanting took place and said that it was “surprised and disappointed” by Toure’s allegation. They will face a UEFA disciplinary hearing on October 30.
They said: “Having carefully studied the video of the game, we found no racist insults from fans of CSKA.”
CSKA’s own Ivory Coast player, striker Seydou Doumbia, defended his own fans and also cast doubt on Toure’s claim: “I didn’t hear anything like that from the CSKA fans.
“Yes, they’re always noisy in supporting the team and try to put as much pressure as possible on our opponents, but they wouldn’t ever allow themselves to come out with racist chants.
“So my Ivory Coast colleague is clearly exaggerating.”