Spartak Moscow

Russian soccer players embroiled in Instagram poem dispute

Published Sep. 18, 2018 11:41 a.m. ET

MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian soccer players have become embroiled in a dispute over a poem on Instagram.

Spartak Moscow captain Denis Glushakov and defender Andrei Yeshchenko have been accused of pressing the "like" button on an Instagram post by Russian actor Dmitry Nazarov mocking Spartak coach Massimo Carrera.

Writing in verse, Nazarov says "Carrera isn't our happiness" and wonders "how many disgraces do we need before our gratefulness runs out?"

Carrera won the Russian title with Spartak in 2017 but the club is already five points behind league leader Zenit St. Petersburg this season.

Several Russian media outlets said Tuesday that Glushakov and Yeshchenko had been suspended from training ahead of Spartak's Europa League game on Thursday against Rapid Vienna.

The club hasn't commented on the case, but the players weren't visible in pictures of a training session posted Tuesday on the team website.

Glushakov says he didn't like the post in question. Yeshchenko hasn't commented.

Get more from Spartak Moscow Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Spartak Moscow

Denis Glushakov

Confederations Cup

UEFA Champions League