‘He’ll be jailed for this!’ – Russian fan throws live rooster at manager (VIDEO)
A fan of Russian second tier club Luch-Energiya Vladivostok has risked being jailed for 15 days by throwing a live rooster onto the pitch in protest at manager Aleksandr Grigoryan.
During the team’s match away to FC Fakel Voronezh on Sunday, the fan threw the rooster in the direction of Grigoryan. Footage on social media showed the bird fluttering its wings and gliding onto the touchline, where it sat for a few moments before being removed.
A fan of Luch-Energiya, the 2nd tier Russian Football National League club in the country's Far Eatsern city of Vladivostok, throws a live rooster onto the pitch in protest at manager Aleksandr Grigoryan 🐓 pic.twitter.com/JBbxfLjcTX
— Danny Armstrong (@DannyWArmstrong) April 16, 2018
The visiting section of fans at Tsentralnyi Profsoyuz Stadion in Voronezh, around 500km south of Moscow, then broke out into chants of “Grigoryan is a rooster!” The Russian word for rooster can be loosely used as a term for a “traitor,” in such instances.
The reason for the poultry protest seems to be the unwillingness of supporters’ in the Far Eastern Russian city to forgive Grigoryan’s departure to FC Tosno during his first spell in charge in the 2013/14 season.
The Armenian then went on to take charge of Luch-Energiya’s fiercest rivals and neighbors, SKA Khabarovsk, before returning to the Vladivostok outfit last year.
Speaking in a post-match interview after his side had been soundly beaten 3-1 by the home side, Grigoryan revealed he had been the subject of a hate campaign from supporters who target him with “obscenities and threats.”
“Who did this? I don’t know, it’s hard for me to say. There are two possibilities: either they are enemies I have acquired in the Far East (of Russia), or through me they are trying to influence the new owners,” the mulleted manager said.
“I have a phone full of videos and text messages from real people, who threaten me. One got worked up to such an extent that today he organizes this disgrace with a rooster. He will be jailed for 15 days for that.
“It is the former leader of a fan group, who came from St. Petersburg. He sends text messages with obscenities and threats. It has got to such an extent that no one can believe it,” Grigoryan added.
Some fans might say it’s simply a case of chickens coming home to roost for the manager’s perceived betrayal of the club.
