An RFU employee apologized for the ban on unfurling the flag of the Espanyola battalion

MOSCOW, July 10 Employee of the Russian Football Union (RFU) and St. Petersburg Zenit, Maria Izmailova apologized for obstructing the display of a banner with the symbols of the Espanyol volunteer brigade, participating in the SVO, at a beach soccer match.
The incident occurred in St. Petersburg on July 7 at the Russian Championship match between the local Kristall and Moscow Spartak. Izmailova did not allow fans to hang the Espanyola banner on the podium, citing the fact that it had not been agreed upon with the match officials, and also claiming that “Nazis” were fighting in this formation. The management of Espanyola noted that they would send official letters to the RFU and Zenit demanding that Izmailova’s actions be checked for legality.

«We discussed this unpleasant situation. I made the right conclusions. I fully support the Espanyol unit, our country. I am ready to help, cooperate, all for the sake of our common goal,» Izmailova said in a video posted on Telegram- Espanola channel.

«We do not want to invent new enemies for ourselves. We are not in favor of tearing and burning anyone who makes mistakes. You can always be given the opportunity to improve. There is always room for repentance. And we are very glad for our part that Maria Izmailova’s thoughts have changed, that she admitted the mistake and will continue to only support Espanyola, our military organization and our entire broad fan community. We are not supporters of witch hunting and searching for enemies from scratch. Espanyola withdraws all its claims in this regard. matter, we consider the incident to be settled,” Espanyola said in a statement.