No Twitter ban for Russia at Euros

Moscow, June 3 (IANS/Ria Novosti) Russia's coach Dick Advocaat said Sunday he will not follow his Spanish counterpart Vicente del Bosque and forbid his players fom using social networking site Twitter during Euro 2012.

On Saturday several Spanish footballers, including Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and Victor Valdes informed their followers that they won't be allowed to post anything while their teams remain in the tournament.

Asked if he is weighing up the same measures for his team, Advocaat said "No, because everybody is responsible for the things they write," he said.

Midfielder Roman Shirokov and goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev are two of the squad's more frequent tweeters, with Shirokov particularly renowned in Russia for his sharp comebacks to unkind remarks.

Advocaat said that as a non-Russian speaker, he has never read Shirokov's account, though he had heard of it and trusts the player not to push it too far.

"He knows what he can do and what he can't, if he goes too far we will tell him," the 64-year-old Dutchman said.

Germany boss Joachim Low also expressed concern about "rather dangerous" Twitter on Sunday, but also said he would not deprive his players of the right to use it.

--IANS/Ria Novosti

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