IN BRIEF

Published: November 21, 2012 (Issue # 1736)

PM Slams Soccer Crime

 ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said crimes like those committed during Saturday’s match between Moscow’s FC Dinamo and St. Petersburg’s FC Zenit in Moscow, in which a player was injured by a firecracker thrown onto the field, should be punished by imprisonment.

Medvedev expressed hope that police would find the person responsible for the incident, Interfax reported.

The game between the two clubs was stopped in the 38th minute of the first half, with Dinamo leading 1:0, after the Dinamo goalkeeper, Anton Shunin, was hit by a firecracker thrown from the stands. The missile exploded at the feet of Shunin, who reportedly suffered burns to his cornea.

The sector where the fans who threw the firecrackers were sitting was reportedly under video surveillance. A disciplinary committee from the Russian Football Association will conduct an investigation into the incident and make a decision. If the incident is found to have involved a Zenit fan, the club will be handed a 3:0 loss by default, in line with FIFA regulations. The club will also have to hold from one to five games behind closed doors on a neutral field and to pay a fine of 500,000 rubles ($15,850), web portal Fontanka.ru reported.

Treasure Goes On Show

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — A temporary exhibit showing the treasure hoard of Russia’s Naryshkin noble dynasty that was found in a St. Petersburg mansion earlier this year will open at the Pavlovsk Museum before the New Year.

Five hundred items from the collection are currently on display at the Konstantinovsky Palace in the St. Petersburg suburb of Strelna, but at Pavlovsk Palace, the whole contents of the find are to be displayed.

The treasure hoard was found on March 27 during reconstruction of the Naryshkin-Trubetskiye mansion at 29 Ulitsa Tchaikovskogo, and consists of more than 2,000 objects. Among the items found were dinner sets and jewelry. After discovery, the objects were taken to the Konstantinovsky Palace for storage and to be exhibited in part.