Villas-Boas slams 'disgraceful' racist abuse aimed at Hulk

The Brazilian said he could only smile after being on the receiving end of monkey chants but his coach was furious with those responsible

By Sam Williams

Andre Villas-Boas branded  Torpedo Moscow fans who aimed racist abuse at Zenit striker Hulk in Sunday's Russian Premier League clash "a disgrace".

A section of the home support directed monkey chants at Hulk during the game at Saturn Stadium, which finished 1-1 after Arnor Smarason equalised the Brazil forward's first-half opener in injury time.

Hulk took a phlegmatic attitude to the abuse both on and off the pitch, first blowing a kiss in the direction of the perpetrators and then calling on fans to "respect all of the players" in a post-game interview.

"What can you do in those situations than just react with a smile? If I react to the fans with respect, then maybe I'll get the same in return," Hulk said.

Zenit coach Villas-Boas was far more forceful in his post-match press conference, though.

"It's a disgrace to football, it's a disgrace to the public. That's something that shouldn't happen," said the Portuguese.

"Torpedo got an important point, but they should be unsettled about what else happened."

Earlier this week, Fifa vice president Jeffrey Webb had warned Russia that their right to host the 2018 World Cup could become under threat if more action was not taken to combat racism.

"Definitely Russia poses a huge challenge for Fifa and the World Cup from a racism standpoint," Webb told ESPN.

"There's a lot of work there to be done from a educational aspect.

"It's a huge opportunity to influence some change and we better influence some change over the next three years. We have to. We can't have a World Cup there under the current conditions."