page_title: Christopher Samba
section_title: First Racism incident in Russia
hierarchical_section_title: Christopher Samba / Club career / Anzhi Makhachkala / First Racism incident in Russia
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Кристофер Самба
context_page_description: Veijeany Christopher Samba, known as Christopher Samba, is a former professional footballer who plays as a defender. Born in France, he played for the Congo national team.
context_section_description: During a match between Anzhi and Lokomotiv Moscow on 17 March 2012, which Lokomotiv won 1–0, a crowd at Lokomotiv allegedly threw a banana at Samba after the match. In response, Samba threw the banana back into the crowd, which he expressed regret in doing. Samba spoke out saying that he was saddened by the incident happening close to children. "I am very sad that this happened in front of children who were sitting in the same stand," the Congo international told reporters after the game. "It is a really bad example for them." Following the incident, Anzhi issued a statement, describing the action of the banana throwing as "idiotic."
  This banana incident thrown at Samba led Sergey Fursenko, the president of the Russian Football Union (RFS), to promise that the authorities are already investigating the incident to identify the person who threw the banana at Samba. Both clubs (Anzhi Makhachkala and Lokomotiv) issued a joint statement, vowing to find the fan who racially abused Samba and publicly punish him. However, Anzhi Makhachkala have publicly criticised Lokomotiv's "interference" after the club claimed its fans did not throw a banana at Samba, with Anzhi’s Vice-President German Chistyakov saying, "It seems FC Lokomotiv is trying to interfere in the investigation... We are confident this is nothing but an absolute nonsense and foolishness." On 30 March 2012, the Russian Football Union confirmed the authorities had identified the thrower and that the thrower is a college student from Moscow.
  After weeks of the banana racism, Samba vowed to stay at Anzhi despite racism.
  Samba said:
  "I feel extremely passionately about racism in football and will never let the small community of racists break me, I'm a strong character and will keep fighting for my team. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Russia and although I was of course angry at the racism incident, along with the rest of the football world, racist issues here are no different to what I have experienced in other countries.
  Nine months after incident, Samba spoke out on racism, accusing Zenit Saint Petersburg supporters, specifically a small group of Zenit fans who are openly against homosexual or non-white players playing for Zenit, as racist and described their actions as "living in another century." But he later clarified the interview, regarding the club’s supporters, saying: "I have no personal complaints against the fans of Zenit Saint Petersburg. Some groups of fans scare me. And not only this, but also other clubs that are negatively opposed to black players".
caption: Samba pictured after the match while playing for Anzhi Makhachkala.
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