He was taken to hospital in an ambulance, then released home to be confined to bed rest with a brain concussion.

Spartak spokesman Vladimir Shevchenko told the news agency this was likely the end of the season for Zoa, who will undergo medical treatment for another week and then face a month for full recovery.

Luc ZOA (Spartak Moscow)

Despite an increase in attacks on foreigners in Moscow and other Russian cities, Shevchenko ruled out racial motives for the attack. “This attack has neither a racist, nor a political, nor a nationalistic motive,” Novosti quoted him as saying.

Earlier this spring, Senegalese Pasquale Mendi, who played for Moscow’s Dinamo, was beaten and robbed near the entrance to his house.

Spartak hockey player Anatoly Ustyugov died two days after he was severally beaten by unknown assailants.