Russian football’s anti-racism chief Alexei Smertin has spoken about his desire to see the country use fan ID cards at league matches in a bid to combat monkey chants before this summer’s World Cup gets underway.

Ape noises have become one of the most serious problems facing the World Cup hosts ahead of the tournament scheduled to start from June 14 to July 15.

There have been several cases involving Russian clubs like Spartak Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg.

The Russian national team has not been spared as well after world football’s governing body, FIFA, opened disciplinary proceedings against Russia over monkey chants heard during an international friendly game against France in March.

According to Smertin, the same Fan ID cards used at World Cup matches can be applied to domestic Russian games having tried out the system with FIFA’s approval at lasts year’s Confederations Cup.

The former Chelsea player was speaking on Monday in a chat with Russia’s RT television. In his words, he said: “I am in favour of the Russian championship using the Fan ID system, just as we did at the Confederations Cup.”

“There were no incidents during that tournament.

“Every fan understood that if something happened, that person would have been easily identified.” he added.

Speaking further, Smertin said: “The way it works now, the clubs are being held responsible instead of the fans — and the fans know this perfectly well.”

“We need to introduce personal responsibility so that fans who violate rules start being denied the right to go to stadiums and support their teams.” he concluded.