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Russian police could launch nationwide manhunt for footballer Alexander Kokorin

Both footballers were requested to show up at a police department in Moscow to meet with an investigator and answer his questions

MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. Russian footballer Alexander Kokorin, who has been charged with hooliganism earlier in the week, failed to turn up at a police station at a requested time and is likely to be included in the federal wanted list, a source in the Moscow police department told TASS on Wednesday.

Yury Titov, a spokesman for the Moscow Interior Ministry’s department, announced to journalists earlier in the day that Moscow police launched a criminal investigation in regard to two national football players, Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev, on charges of hooliganism.

He said that both footballers were requested to show up at a police department in Moscow to meet with an investigator and answer his questions. The deadline to show up was set at 6:00 p.m. Moscow time (15:00 GMT) and Mamaev arrived before the st time, while Kokorin failed to show up.

"We are currently considering an issue of including Alexander Kokorin on the federal wanted list," the source said.

According to earlier media reports, FC Zenit striker Alexander Kokorin and FC Krasnodar midfielder Pavel Mamaev beat up one of the customers at a downtown Moscow cafe on Monday morning after the customer, sitting at a table nearby, requested that they conduct themselves in a calmer manner in a public place.

Both footballers assaulted the man hitting him on the head with a chair and then punching him in the face, inflicting numerous injuries. The victim, Denis Pak, turned out to be working as a department chief at the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry. Besides other injuries, he suffered a concussion, which he later reported to the police.

According to media reports, before the incident in the cafe both footballers had reportedly assaulted a driver of a Mercedes near the Peking Hotel in Moscow, beating the man up, in addition to breaking one of the vehicle’s windows and damaging one of the car’s doors.

This is not the first time that both Russian footballers were involved in public scandals. The most notorious one took place two years ago after the 2016 UEFA Euro Cup tournament in France. Mamaev and Kokorin allegedly shelled out 250,000 euros on champagne while partying in Monaco, just as the European championship was still on, but their national team was knocked out.

While Kokorin and Mamaev were partying at the ritzy Twiga club, they ordered some 500 bottles of Armand de Brignac champagne costing 500 euros each. According to eyewitnesses, the champagne was being served while the Russian national anthem was playing and the party was accompanied by a fireworks display.

The incident with Kokorin and Mamaev sparked a public outcry, especially following the national team’s poor performance in June at the 2016 UEFA Euro Cup in France, and both players later apologized for their behavior vowing that it would never happen again.