Hulk smashes referee's door after Zenit defeat

St. Petersburg, May 9 (IANS/RIA Novosti)

Zenit St. Petersburg striker Hulk broke the door to the referee’s changing room after his team lost a Russian Cup semifinal Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the situation has told R-Sport.

Zenit lost the home game 0-1 to Anzhi Makhachkala, who are a game away from their first major trophy.

After the match, which included a controversially rejected penalty appeal for Zenit, the St. Petersburg team’s manager Luciano Spalletti suggested referee Sergei Karasyov had been pressured to let Anzhi win.

“Sergei is like a student who comes home and does homework that the teacher gives him. Sergei had the task of coming here and running the match in this way,” he said.

He added that the head of the Russian FA’s refereeing department, fellow Italian Roberto Rosetti, should be fired for failing to attend such a major fixture.

“It’s a very bad signal,” he said. “I hope he was absent for personal reasons. His act is equivalent to me staying at home.”

The controversy is the second to engulf Karasyov in less than a month.

After Spartak Moscow drew 2-2 with CSKA Moscow April 21, Spartak striker Yura Movsisyan branded his decision-making “terrible” and manager Valery Karpin alleged he had given CSKA an unfair advantage at free-kicks.

After the game, Valery Karpin confronted Karasyov and was banned from the touchline for three games as a result.

Last month, Terek Grozny were forced to play a home league game at a neutral venue after local political leader Ramzan Kadyrov stormed into the referee’s dressing room after a game.