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MOSCOW (AP) — The head of Spartak Moscow's public relations department has been fined after a player posted a tweet to the club account describing his own black teammates as "chocolates."
A video on the club's Twitter account this month showed Brazilian players Luiz Adriano, Pedro Rocha, and Fernando exercising during a training camp in the United Arab Emirates. A message which translated as, "See how the chocolates melt in the sun," accompanied the video, followed by three emojis of a smiley face.
The Russian Football Union fined Spartak's PR head Leonid Trakhtenberg 20,000 rubles ($350), and gave a warning to defender Georgy Dzhikiya, whom the club said operated its Twitter account that day.
Dzhikiya tore a knee ligament last week and risks missing the World Cup.
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