July 7 – Two Russian players have been punished by their clubs after video evidence showed them partying in Monaco following the national team’s humiliating Euro 2016 exit.
Aleksandr Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev reportedly spent €250,000 on 500 bottles of champagne in a nightclub, though that has been denied by both of them.
Zenit St Petersburg’s forward Kokorin and FC Krasnodar midfielder Mamaev have been fined and demoted to their respective youth teams. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was aware of the incident.
Video posted online shows the players surrounded by champagne and sparklers as Russia’s national anthem plays in the background.
The owner of the Twiga nightclub where the two players were pictured, former Queens Park Rangers chairman Flavio Briatore, said they had not ordered the champagne, were out with their wives and did not drink alcohol. “There was a private party … organised by some Russians,” he wrote on Instagram. “They recognised Kokorin and Mamaev and as a sign of respect, as they are fans, they started sending them some bottles of champagne and they asked our DJ to play the Russian anthem.”
But Putin’s spokesman described the occasion as “a shameless display of conceit”, FC Krasnodar called it “outrageous and unacceptable” and Zenit added: “Unfortunately, some Russian players can find themselves in these scandalous situations due to a lack of common sense.”
The nightclub concerned is reported to be known for attracting rich Russians who live or are on holiday in Monaco. However, Kokorin strongly denied that he and his team-mate were responsible for ordering or paying for the champagne, telling Sports.ru: “Somebody was celebrating their birthday and we were simply there. Naturally, everybody saw the bottles and heard the Russian anthem, but why put all this on us?”
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