EX-ARSENAL midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong was astonished over the weekend that Russia will host the next World Cup after he was sent off for reacting to racist abuse from supporters.

Frimpong took to Twitter to air his grievances after Friday night’s opening Russian Premier League game between Spartak Moscow and FC Ufa.

Frimpong joined Ufa in September last year and during Friday’s match, stuck his middle finger up at fans who were chanting “monkey” at the Ghanaian midfielder. He received a straight red card.

Afterwards on social media he said: “I’m going to serve a sentence for being abused and yet we (are) going to hold a World Cup in this country where Africans will have to come play football.”

But Ufa’s general director Shamil Gazizov confirmed that the club does not want to see Spartak get punished and told Frimpong to “put up with it.”

He said: “There were people who could have shouted things. These are emotions which go away after the game. We are partners with the red and whites and are on good terms.

“What Frimpong did was wrong. Sometimes you even have to hold back the tears and just put up with it.”

Racism is rife in Russian football, with Frimpong’s incident being the fourth time a black player has been punished for reacting to racist chants since 2013.

Last year, CSKA Moscow were forced to play all of their home games in the Champions League behind closed doors because of racist and violent incidents from their fans.