The CEO of Zorya Luhansk has issued a bizarre criticism of the city of Manchester.
Sergei Rafailov travelled with his club for their recent Europa League clash with Manchester United and he wanted to make it abundantly clear that he did not enjoy his trip.
Zorya came up short at Old Trafford, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal the difference between the sides a fortnight ago.
But it wasn’t the defeat that made Rafailov wish he had never visited Manchester.
Boss of FC Zorya,who played United last week,tells Ukraine press: "Manchester is a dirty city, full of drunks and men kissing in the street"
— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) October 5, 2016
Rafailov spoke about a walk he took one evening and was appalled by an encounter with drunk revellers and gay couples as he slammed the city centre as “dirty”.
“When we were in England we were only in Manchester and I did not like the city,” Rafailov said, as translated by Goal.com.
“It was very dirty. Near the hotel, which was, incidentally, in the city centre, there were homeless people sleeping on the pavement at night.Â
“I went out for a walk in the evening and went a little further from the centre. It was even worse there. Masses of drunk people. It was bizarre for me to see men walking down the street and kissing. I did not like it.Â
“I would suggest we think about European integration 20 times [before we accept it]. I would not like my grandchildren to go outside and see men kissing and homeless people sleeping in the centre of the city.”
