Soccer-Zenit's Hulk subjected to alleged monkey chants by Torpedo fans

By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy MOSCOW, March 15 (Reuters) - Zenit St Petersburg forward Hulk was subjected to alleged monkey chants by Torpedo Moscow fans on Sunday, prompting coach Andre Villas-Boas to describe the incident as an embarrassment for football. The 28-year-old Brazilian scored a goal from a free kick in the 1-1 draw, but was then allegedly abused by sections of the home crowd. The forward cupped his hand behind his ear in a gesture aimed towards the Torpedo fans and then blew kisses in their direction. Zenit's coach Villas-Boas said he was appalled by the incident. "When our fans ran onto the pitch, we were hit with a harsh punishment. What happened today was a lot worse," he told a news conference. "This is an embarrassment for football and this sort of thing should not happen," the Portuguese added. Hulk has previously been a target for racist abuse in Russia. Spartak Moscow were handed a one-match travelling supporter ban after their fans aimed monkey chants in Hulk's direction during a match in St Petersburg in September. "Such things are impossible to understand, accept and explain," Hulk said on Zenit's website (www.fc-zenit.ru). "This is not the first time I have come across this problem, however, each time I have to ask everyone to respect every player. Even despite these occurrences of racism, both the team and myself are always focused on the game." This is not the first time Torpedo's fans have been accused of racism this season. In September the club were punished for racist chants directed at Dynamo Moscow's Christopher Samba. They were forced to play one match without a section of their supporters. Torpedo's fans were also found guilty in November of aiming monkey chants towards Rostov's black players, which resulted in the club having to play their next three home matches with part of their stadium closed. (Reporting By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy; editing by Toby Davis)