Former USSR national team and Moscow's CSKA club former footballer Vladimir Ponomaryov criticized Saint Petersburg's Zenit defender Douglas Santos. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.
Although Douglas Santos will have a Russian passport starting from 2024, he is still considered a foreign player. According to Ponomaryov, granting Russian citizenship to foreign footballers is wrong and unfair to the country.
He said: "Foreign footballers should never be granted citizenship. A foreigner should remain a foreigner."
Douglas Santos has been playing for Zenit since 2019. He transferred from Hamburg club for 10 million euros.
He has played a total of 226 matches in all competitions for the team, scoring 9 goals and providing 34 assists. Soon, he may take the field for the Brazilian national team in the World Cup qualifying matches.
This situation will mark a new stage in the footballer's international career.
