England Players Raise Russian Racism Concerns

England players have discussed what to do if subjected to racism during the World Cup in Russia this summer, says Manchester United's Ashley Young. The Russian Football Union was recently fined £22,000 for racist chants by fans in a friendly against France in March.

"When we're on the pitch I'm not sure how you would react to it," said 32-year-old wing-back Young, "We'll talk about it, and we have talked about it, in the squad - what to do and what not to do.", adding  "Hopefully Fifa, if anything is to come about, will be able to deal with it."

France players Paul Pogba, Ousmane Dembele and N'Golo Kante were said to be among those subjected to abuse in their side's 3-1 win over the World Cup hosts. 'Maybe it's his background' - Nedum Onuoha on Raheem Sterling's negative media portrayal. The game was played at Krestovsky Stadium in St Petersburg, which is one of the host venues for this summer's event.

A statement from football's world governing body said Fifa had a "zero tolerance approach" to discrimination. However, Lord Ouseley, chairman of anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out, called the fine by Fifa "pitiful". 'Players will try to wind up people'

Manchester United's Young was involved in confrontation with England team-mate and Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli when their teams played each other last October. Then United won 1-0 and, although Young says the pair have "had a laugh and a joke before in the previous squad", he knows England's players need to be wary of provocation in Russia

"You know on the pitch players will try to wind up people," he said. "They might try to target certain people. It happens in club football. "It's just one of those things but we have to keep 11 players on the pitch at all times and I think there's enough experience throughout the whole squad to know, if someone is being wound up, to pull them away and tell them to calm down or have a word with the referee to make them aware of what is going on.

"We've talked about all sorts of different scenarios. That is kept in-house but I'm sure different things will happen in the tournament."

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