VLADIMIR Putin has censored a Euros broadcast to stop Russians from hearing a rude chant about him at the tournament.
Georgian fans loudly chorused “Putin is a ****head” around the 38th minute of their team’s game against Turkey before it was scrubbed in a cowardly move.
The clash was shown live by Match TV, owned by Kremlin-obedient Gazprom-Media giant.
The crude chant in Russian was heard live by viewers but was quickly removed in recordings of the match and replaced with general crowd noise.
Independent Russian journalist Ilya Shepelin made fun of the censorship in a game won 3-1 by Turkey.
He posted: “Here you go – Match TV removed chants about Putin from the Turkey-Georgia match from the recording of the European Championship broadcast.
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“A subscriber sent me the live broadcast video….
“Fans are chanting the old football chorus of Kharkiv [Ukrainian] fans about Putin.”
The dictator was not invited to Germany for the championship “but he anyway appeared…this could be considered a victory”.
It was a “rare case when Putin, not his opponents” was censored from a state TV channel in Russia.
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The Georgian fans were “expressing their solidarity with the Ukrainian people”, said Charter 97 pro-democracy group.
Match TV earlier refused to broadcast Ukraine’s 3-0 loss to Romania.
Putin propagandist and Georgia-born Tina Kandelaki raged against the fans for “insulting” the Kremlin dictator.
The 48-year-old hit out at the “gross provocation” from fans in Georgia, a country divided by pro-Western and pro-Russian forces.
It is unclear if she ordered the censorship.
The chant was “dirty and vulgar”, said Kandelaki, now deputy head of Gazprom-Media which owns the channel.
The TV personality added: “During the broadcast of the Turkey v Georgia game, insults against the President of the Russian Federation were heard from the stands on Match TV.
“This is nothing new on the part of Georgian extremists.”
She also hit out at Georgian people seeking closer ties with the West.
On Monday, Ukrainian forces were on high alert over fears Vladimir Putin’s troops would launch a blitz during the Euros opener.
With hundreds of power generators dotted across Odesa and Kharkiv amid Putin’s onslaught, many Ukrainians were able to watch their national squad’s first Euro 2024 match against Romania.
But it was feared large crowds – whether in Ukraine’s cities or in bunkers on the frontline – during the tournament could attract missile and drone strikes from the Russians.
A Ukrainian commander in Odesa warned that the Russians forces will be “very interested” to find out when Ukrainians will be gathering to watch the football.
He told The Irish Sun: “I cannot tell you if we are going to watch football.
“Imagine, let’s say, that the enemy knows that at a certain time we will gather to watch football.
“I am sure that they are very interested in finding out. What I can tell you is that we will be even more prepared to repel the Russian attack during Ukrainian fixtures at the Euros.”
A soldier with the call sign “Maverick” said there is no time or place for football in the trenches.
“Most people don’t understand what it is like to live in the trench. You always have to be alert,” he said.
“You can hear kamikaze FPV drones loaded with explosives from a distance of 25–30 metres, and you need to try to survive.
“It can attack you at any moment.”
Those watching would have seen a fan invade the pitch before being dragged off by security during Romania’s 3-0 win.
The supporter, who was wearing a yellow t-shirt, appeared from one of the stands behind the goal before a Ukraine corner.
He managed to get to Romanian star Nicolae Stanciu, but was swiftly whisked away by stewards before anything happened.
The game quickly resumed with Romania leading 3-0 in the Group E clash.
There was an incredible atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena in Munich.
That was largely down to the Romanian supporters who made a raucous noise that spurred on their side.
Some could even be seen in tears as their side marched to a first Euros victory in 24 years.
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Before the match, ex-gaffer and star striker Shevchenko presented the shell-blasted seats of a Kharkiv stadium built for Euro 2012 in Munich, as cheering Ukraine fans vowed to keep fighting the Russian invasion.
Russia banned from Euro 2024
RUSSIAN teams were banned by UEFA from international competitions within days of the brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia appealed against the bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but these were dismissed in July that same year.
The initial called was made by Uefa’s executive committee on then upheld by the CAS.
The football body also wanted to keep Russian flags out of the stadium when Ukraine played its first European Championship game Monday after some were displayed in the stands at other matches.
Following Putin’s war in Ukraine, his country was also banned from th 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Still, Russian citizens could try to buy tickets for Euro 2024 games.
But UEFA said it wanted to keep Russian flags out of the stadium when Ukraine played its first European Championship game on Monday.
UEFA said security staff would try to intercept and remove Russian flags from being displayed at the Munich stadium where Ukraine played Romania.
The national flag of white, red and blue horizontal bands has been displayed at some of the first group-stage matches, including in Munich last Friday next to Scotland flags at the opening game against Germany.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
