Dmitri Tarasov news: Lokomotiv player's shirt declares Vladimir Putin as 'most polite president'

After Russia lost to Turkey with a 2-0 score in their recent match at the Europa League on Thursday, Lokomotiv Moscow's Dmitri Tarasov suddenly took of his jersey, revealing a shirt with the picture of Russian president Vladimir Putin, declaring him as the "most polite president."

The league bans any expression of polical, religious or ideological propaganda during the games, and Tarasov's actions was not taken lightly.

In a statement, the Lokomotiv team said (as transated by Google Translate): "The political, ideological or religious propaganda are banned on the territory of football, and FC 'Lokomotiv' fully shares the position of the UEFA on the issue. ... Dmitry Tarasov will receive disciplinary action in accordance with the personal contract with FC 'Locomotive'."

According to Russian sports agency R-sport, a UEFA source said that Lokomotiv could face sanctions while Tarasov could be banned for at least 10 matches. 

As reported on Reuters, Tarasov declared, "This is my president. I respect him and decided to show that I am ready to support him wherever I am. I wrote on this T-shirt everything that I wanted to say."

The game, which was already full of tension, was the first after the November incident where Turkey shot down a Russian jet. Tarasov's action seems to further agitate whatever ill-feelings the two countries have for each other.

Russian social media networks are awash with criticisms for Tarasov's action, with some netizens saying that the soccer player should have focused on winning the game against Turkey's Fenerbache. Even State Duma Deputy and Russian Football Union member Igor Lebedev reportedly expressed his disappointment over Tarasov's action.

However, there are also those who support Tarasov's action. BBC showed some tweets from some Russian Twitter users. For instance, @pichushkin1979 said, "Lokomotiv were toothless and hopeless, but Tarasov was a beauty with that t-shirt."

Prior to the game, some Turkish fans threw bottles at the Lokomotiv bus as it made its way to the stadium. Despite this tension, the UEFA did not make any move to keep the two teams from competing against each other.

The UEFA's stance against politically-motivated incidents have been strong. Last year, it fined Barcelona for allowing their fans to display banners that demanded Catalonia's independence from Spain after their match with Juventus. That incident cost Barcelona 30,000 euros.