Russian Premier League club Torpedo Moscow has been handed a partial stadium ban for one league game by the Russian Football Union (RFU) following racist abuse aimed at Dynamo Moscow defender Christopher Samba during a league match.

The ban would involve the ‘Fans Sector’ of Torpedo’s Saturn Stadium being closed down in the club’s next home match in the Russian Premier League, though no action would be taken to fish out the erring fans or keep them from attending subsequent matches.

The incident occured during the first half of the Moscow derby at Torpedo’s Saturn Stadium, with the Congo international complaining of raciat chants to the match referee before the first cornerkick of the match, before asking to be substituted during the half-time break as a result.

Dynamo went on to win the match 3-1, with manager Stanislav Cherchesov initially stating after the match that Samba had been substituted due to a calf injury while the club’s Vice-President Gennady Soloviev later revealed, ”Samba felt offended with Torpedo fans and didn’t want to go on the pitch for the second half. That’s why he was replaced.”

Head of the RFU disciplinary committee Artur Grigoryants stated, ”There was a note in the [match] delegate’s report that throughout the first half there were chants directed at FC Dynamo player Christopher Samba.”

Grigoyants added ”The delegate has confirmed it once again at the meeting. The referee of the match has also informed the committee that Samba told him about chanting during the first cornerkick.

He also stated that Samba also sent a letter to the disciplinary committee in which he confirmed the chanting and that he had appealed to the referee during the game.

It is not the first time Samba has suffered racial abuse in Russia, having had a banana thrown at him while he was with Anzhi Makhachkala in another Premier League in Moscow in 2012.