Russians unite against racism

Stellar cast
The all-star game, which has the backing of both the European governing body UEFA and FARE (the Football Against Racism in Europe network), pits the Russian national team against the best foreign players in the Premier-Liga.

Racism problem
The match, which looks set to become an annual fixture on the Russian calendar, aims to focus public attention on the problem of racism on and off the pitch.

Telephone vote
To promote the event, fans were able to select the foreign all-star team in a nationwide telephone poll. The foreign legion will be led by FC Dinamo Moskva head coach Viktor Prokopenko and FC Krylya Sovetov Samara coach Alexander Tarkhanov.

'A spectacle'
"We are taking this match seriously and we are hoping to put on a spectacle for the fans," said Russia coach Valeri Gazzaev, who will be without the injured FC Lokomotiv Moskva trio of Sergei Ignashevich, Vadim Evseev and Dmitri Loskov.

'Playing for real'
"It is not going to be a non-contact match - we'll be playing for real," said Prokopenko, whose foreign selection will be captained by PFC CSKA Moskva's Czech midfield player Jirí Jarošik.

Missing players
Of the players picked in the public vote, only Jacob Lekcetho (South Africa and Lokomotiv), Nicolas Pavlovic (Argentina and FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast) and Baye Kebe (Senegal and FC Spartak Moskva) will be unavailable.

'A great pleasure'
"It will be a great pleasure to play in such a game, and I will do my best to beat the Russian side," said Dinamo's Serbia and Montenegro playmaker Ognien Koroman. The match at the Lokomotiv stadium will be refereed by English official Graham Poll.

Russia
Ovchinnikov, Mandrykin, Ignashevich, Nizhegorodov, Sennikov, Evsikov, A Berezoutski, V Berezoutski, Kovtun, Yanovsky, Gusev, Solomatin, Evseev, Loskov, Karyaka, Bystrov, Semshov, Aldonin, Kerzhakov, Semak, Kirichenko, Bulykin, Pavlyuchenko.

All-stars
Berezovsky (Armenia), Pareiko (Estonia), Mendy (Senegal), N'Diaga (Senegal), Batak (Slovakia), Tchuisse (Cameroon), Shershun (Ukraine), Kormiltsev (Ukraine), Booth (South Africa), Kruscic (Serbia and Montenegro), Koroman (Serbia and Montenegro), Kisei (Morocco), Rahimic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Jarošik (Czech Republic), Souza (Brazil), Alberto (Brazil), Rekhviashvili (Georgia), Poškus (Lithuania), Kanyenda (Malawi).