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A slap in the face for female Zenit Fans

American readers, please note that the word “football” is used here instead of the word “soccer.”

The soundtrack of the initial years of my life was often comprised of the din of football chants on the television. Although I showed no preference for kicking the ball, I did enjoy watching it be kicked. In the tradition of my father and grandfather, I became a fan of my home team – FC Dynamo Kiev. Even after moving away from Kiev, the club remained a part of my life.

Neither the men nor the women in my family ever expressed the idea that there was something strange or wrong about a girl enjoying football.

I was therefore particularly dismayed to read that the council of fans of FC Zenit St. Petersburg – the richest club in the Russian Federation and the original stomping ground of star footballer Andrei Arshavin – has decided that season tickets for the coveted fan sector in their home stadium of Petrovsky will not be sold to women (or, as one choice news source put it, “broads”)

istock_000002276985xsmallGorod 812, a journal based in St. Petersburg quoted Ruslan Dryuma, an FC Zenit representative, as confirming that “young women were excluded, but not all of them… We have made the decision that we are not discussing this subject with the press.”

Upon visiting the FC Zenit’s official website, I immediately noted that both the Russian and English versions of the site have a page devoted to club policy – where the club’s commitment to fighting bigotry and hooliganism is discussed. The club says that it investigates the behaviour of fans “who are disrespectful towards sportsmen and opponents from other nationalities and religions” and takes appropriate measures, even going as far as banning such people form the stadium. It seems fairly obvious that FC Zenit is aware of the ramifications of discriminatory behaviour among its fans. Why is sexism getting a free pass?

In LiveJournal discussions, possible reasons for the exclusion of female fans have ranged from “they’re only there to find husbands” to “women can’t be proper fans.” I was immediately reminded of the exclusion of female football fans on the stadiums of Iran – justified by the horrific possibility of women gaping at the footballers’ legs. The situation would be comical, if it wasn’t so sad.

I wondered about the politics of male bonding – in Russia and elsewhere. I realized that perhaps I was privileged in my interactions with men who had no problem being themselves in front of me. Gorod 812 quoted one male fan as saying that “I can’t jump around and swear when members of the beautiful sex are next to me.”

The male fan is the one with the problem, but it is the female fan who is being punished.

Why is FC Zenit allowing itself to be embarrassed in this manner, especially after it has made a commitment to fight other forms of discrimination?

I was unable to get anyone to speak to me on the phone, and e-mail messages have gone unreturned so far. Perhaps club officials are counting on this issue to fade away.

In the meantime, I was able to get in touch with a couple of female Zenit fans who wished to remain anonymous. One woman spoke to me about obtaining tickets to the fan sector through friends, and her fear of these friends getting into trouble because of her. Both women said that it was their desire that only the most devoted fans have access to the sector.

Both also related instances in which men in the fan sector behaved as though they were not fans at all – and wondered why it is that people like that get a free pass, while women are very closely scrutinized, and found wanting.

From our conversations, I got the sense that the fans’ council of FC Zenit rightfully decided to improve the atmosphere in the sector, but went about it in a bizarre, downright misogynistic manner.

FC Zenit is presently owned by Russian giant Gazprom and has attracted major sponsors such as PUMA. Once again, I have to consider how embarrassing this situation is for such a high-profile, popular club. I can only hope that the administration of the club will not turn a blind eye to this bullying, and launch a discussion with the fans’ council as to how this situation can be resolved.

Strict standards for fan behaviour are nothing new. But a standard that amounts to labelling an entire gender as unwanted and unwelcome only tarnishes the spirit of the game.

12 thoughts on “A slap in the face for female Zenit Fans

  1. Pingback: delicious « Better burn that dress, sister.
  2. I hope UEFA does something about this. You’re right, this kind of thing would be comical if it weren’t actually impacting people. This reminds me of when the Spanish teams would make monkey noises and toss bananas onto the field when black players from France and England would come play. So incredibly awful.

  3. Sadly, this doesn’t really surprise me. Here in the UK, there are plenty of people who think the problem with football these days is all those “females and families”, conflating the presence of women with the takeover of the “prawn sandwich brigade”. And don’t even get me started on the way female stewards can’t even stand in front of the stand without a chorus of “get your tits out for the lads”.

  4. Shocking stuff. The club must respond to your emails. They have to explain how on earth they justify such blatant sexism. Unbelievable.

  5. Zenit the first Russian team to sign a black player were forced to look at their transfer policy due to the racist reaction from their fans.

    They were open to sign anyone but this has forced them to look mostly at white players.

    On a purely football note Natalia I love Kiev-especially when they took Arsenal apart 4-1 in the champions league at Wembley a few years ago. What a team you had then.

    Btw I am a huge Spurs fan so Kiev will always have my support.

  6. It’s pretty damn ironic, and not in a good way, that your post in defense of women’s rights in Russia is followed by a large paid advertisement for purchasing Russian women in the form of mail-order brides at russianeuro.com (“find your Russian beauty today!”) from which you are indirectly profiting.

    I might suggest that if you are serious about your feminism you demand these ads be pulled from this website or cease writing for it.

  7. “Старик Державин нас заметил и, в гроб сходя, благославил.”

    It’s a Google Ad, and therefore I’m seeing something completely different. Even so, the “mail-order bride” business is a complicated one. I don’t agree with its aims or ethos, but I’ve interviewed several women who have worked in it – and I know that some will defend it vehemently. Depends on the person. It’s very easy for you and me to judge these women – perhaps a little too easy.

    Anyway, I’m not going to get lectured by you, La Russophobe, on feminism. Tell me about how much you hate little old ladies who beg in the streets of Russia again? I don’t take most things you say in good faith, you see.

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