Gyan in racism row....

... accuses Spartak captain of

MOSCOW, Nov 10 - Saturn Ramenskoye's Ghanaian striker Baffour Gyan has accused Spartak Moscow captain Yegor Titov of racism

Gyan, red-carded for an unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of Wednesday's ill-tempered 1-1 draw against Spartak, said he was a target of racist abuse during the Russian premier league match and accused Titov of inciting Spartak fans.

'Throughout the match Spartak fans were abusing me, calling me a monkey, making monkey noises,' Gyan was quoted as saying by daily Sovietsky Sport.

'Titov didn't behave like a true captain. Instead of calming Spartak fans down, he just made things worse. He was provoking the crowd and asking the referee to give me a second yellow card.

'I feel that he behaved like a racist,' added the elder brother of Ghana's World Cup striker Asamoah Gyan.

Titov has denied the charges.

Gyan was sent off in the last minute of injury time after making an obscene gesture to the crowd. 'I just lost my patience with them and reacted in a bad way,' he said.

Saturn have sent an open letter to the Russian Football Union (RFU) and the league, seeking to punish the perpetrators. RFU officials said they were investigating.

Russian soccer has long been plagued by racist and nationalist incidents.

Just a week ago, Spartak fans displayed a banner showing a swastika during a league match at Shinnik Yaroslavl.