The match has been on the schedule since at least June 30, long before Hulk was announced as a participant in the draw.
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Zenit St Petersburg’s Brazilian striker Hulk will not be taking part in Saturday’s World Cup qualifying draw.
A statement issued by world federation FIFA blamed “club commitments with FC Zenit” for the need to bring in former Russia midfielder Alexey Smertin instead of Hulk.
Russian Federation newspaper Sport Express reports that Zenit boss Andre Villas-Boas withdrew Hulk from the event due to the fact the team has an away match at Ural on Sunday.
He had also been due to speak at a pre-draw press conference on Friday alongside fellow assistants, who include his compatriot Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Samuel Eto’o.
Russia, hosts for the 2018 World Cup, have repeatedly been criticised for failure to tackle racism in domestic soccer. I feel flattered by the invitation to take part of this event that kicks off the way towards the next World Cup.
“I must say that nearly every game I see this happening. I used to get raging, but now I just send a kiss to our fans and try not to get mad”. I feel plainly adapted to Russian Federation and my family really likes St Petersburg.
Earlier this week he said: “If it (racism) happens in the World Cup, it will be really gross and really ugly”.
Alexei Sorokin, chief executive of Russia’s World Cup organizing committee, said the decision was unrelated to the Brazilian’s criticism of racism in Russian football.
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Meanwhile, FIFA has asked the Russian Football Union to explain why it banned Ghanaian global player Emmanuel Frimpong for two games after he complained of racial abuse at a game in which he reacted to monkey chants by fans with a derogatory gesture.
