FIFA recently addressed Russian team boss Fabio Capello's complaint over the flashing of an illegal green laser beam multiple times on Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev by imposing a hefty fine on the Algerian Football Union. The Voice of Russia said that the sneaky act of one of Algeria's fans during a group match has cost the football federation 50,000 Swiss francs, or over $56,170. Russia was knocked out of the tournament following its 1-1 draw against the Algerians.
On Thursday, Russian fans were in an uproar over the efforts of a fan to momentarily blind Akinfeev by using a laser beam on his face seconds before Algeria answered with an equalizer courtesy of Islam Slimani in the second half of the game.
The Italian boss of the Russian national team said, "He was blinded by the laser beam. There are pictures and you can see that in the footage. About the lasers it is not an excuse. The goalkeeper was unable to do his job. The laser beam was in his face."
Apart from the laser beam incident, Voice of Russia said Capello also accused the referees assigned in the match of poor officiating. He was particularly not happy with the free-kick awarded to the Algerians that helped the latter score their goal in the match, of which the Russians were initially dominating.
"I have always kept my mouth shut, but now it is over I can speak. The referee should have blown for a foul on our player before he gave a free-kick to Algeria. "We didn't make any mistakes today. We played an excellent game, we scored a goal and their goalkeeper made a couple of excellent saves up until this moment of the free-kick," Capello added.
Russia's failure to qualify in the Round of 16 reportedly continues his poor performance as a World Cup coach. On the other hand, Capello defended himself and said that he plans to stay in the national team as long as the football federation wants him to stay. Should this be the case, he is expected to lead the Russians up until 2022, where the country will be playing host to the football tournament.
