Russian referee insulted over stadium PA system

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russian soccer club Akhmat Grozny is facing punishment after its stadium's public address system was used to insult the referee during a game — not for the first time.

Shortly after referee Alexei Sukhoi sent off Akhmat striker Ablaye Mbengue in Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Spartak Moscow, a shout came over the PA system calling the referee by a Russian expletive. Many in the crowd cheered.

Club CEO Akhmed Aidamirov told Sport Express newspaper on Monday that a stadium employee had been fired for shouting into the PA system's microphone.

When the club played Rubin Kazan in 2013, the political leader of Russia's Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, used the PA system to accuse the referee of corruption. The club, then named Terek, was forced to move a home game to a neutral venue over that incident.