Brazilian striker Hulk will not participate in the 2018 World Cup qualifying draw ceremony taking place on Saturday. Although the 28-year-old Brazilian was supposed to appear alongside other stars, Russia excluded the "Zenit" legionnaire from St. Petersburg from the list.
FIFA announced that Hulk will not participate in the ceremony due to club commitments. "Zenit" will travel to Yekaterinburg on Sunday to play in the Russian championship matches.
However, few believe that Hulk has been excluded from the list of players for the matches. Russia already knew about such matches on June 30, well before it was announced that Hulk would participate in the ceremony.
It is believed that this move was a Russian response to Hulk's statements. On Monday, he claimed that racism flourishes in every match in Russia. Russia often faces criticism for racism, so they were afraid that talks about it could overshadow the event.
Hulk will be replaced by former Russian defender Alexei Smertin.
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