Spalletti: congratulated Zenit on the championship, so as not to mix sports and politics
Head coach of the Italian national team Luciano Spalletti answered a question from a Ukrainian journalist about congratulating Zenit St. Petersburg on winning the Russian Premier League in the 2022/2023 season. His words are quoted by Football Italia.
The journalist asked the coach whether it was right to do this in relation to the team from Russia. The Italian said that many of the players he coached are still playing for the blue-white-blue team, in particular team coach Sergei Semak.
Spalletti noticed that Zenit congratulated Napoli, which he led, on winning the Italian Championship, so he decided to reciprocate. “It seems to me completely unfair to connect a sports victory with a conflict with which I completely disagree,” he considered.
Spalletti coached Zenit from 2009 to 2014. Under his leadership, the team won the Russian Championship twice and won the National Cup.
Source: Lenta
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