Kadyrov Offers Job To Russian Soccer Player Who Wore Putin T-Shirt

Lokomotiv Moscow's Dmitry Tarasov, wearing a T-shirt depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaves the pitch after the match at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul on February 16.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has offered a place on a Chechen soccer team to a Russian player who was punished by the governing body of European soccer for wearing a pro-Putin T-shirt during a match in Turkey.

Kadyrov wrote on Instagram on February 21 that "Terek is ready to buy" the player, Dmitry Tarasov. Kadyrov is the honorary president of Terek Grozny, a team in the Chechen capital.

UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, charged Tarasov with improper conduct under its ban on clothing carrying political slogans after he wore the T-shirt in a match on February 16 against the Turkish team Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

The player faces a potentially lengthy ban at a hearing next month.

Kadyrov also said that if Tarasov did not want to join, the Chechen club was willing to pay off a fine slapped on Tarasov by his Lokomotiv Moscow club.

Relations between Turkey and Russia have chilled since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane in a disputed encroachment of its airspace in November near the Syrian border.

Based on reporting by AFP