Zenit to appeal Shunin verdict in Lausanne

St. Petersburg, Nov 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti):

Zenit St. Petersburg are to appeal to sport’s highest court against sanctions handed to the club over a flare injury to Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Anton Shunin, a spokesman for the Russian champions said.

The Russian FA awarded Dynamo a technical 3-0 victory after the teams’ league match was abandoned when Shunin was hurt by a flare thrown from the Zenit supporters end earlier this month.

Zenit were ordered to play their next two league games behind closed doors and fined. Dynamo received a one-game empty-stadium order and were also fined.

The three-time Russian Premier League champions maintained their innocence in the affair and threatened to pull out of the league if the FA decision went against them but so far seem intent on exhausting the appeals process first.

“Zenit believes that not all the circumstances of the incident were examined,” Yevgeny Gusev said.

“The identity of the flare thrower was not established, so their links to Zenit cannot be proven. Our club intends to justify its position and file an appeal to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne,” Gusev said.

League rules say any supporter located in a sector of the stadium assigned to away fans is presumed to belong to the travelling group.

The CEO of Zenit’s chief sponsor Gazprom Alexei Miller said last week that the club are considering the creation of a regional league involving teams from the former Soviet Union.