This Russian footballer decided to unveil a Vladimir Putin t-shirt... in Turkey

In case you didn’t know, Russia and Turkey are currently engaged in military action in Syria, in support of opposing sides.

They haven’t engaged in direct warfare with each other, but are each attacking rebels which the other country supports, bringing Russia into conflict with Nato.

It's all very serious. Turkey even shot down a Russian plane last month.

So this is obviously the time for a footballer to espouse their political views in T-shirt form after a Champions League fixture.

Lokomotiv Moscow defender Dmitri Tarasov pulled off his kit to reveal a T-shirt of Vladimir Putin underneath, at the end of the fixture against Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

The T-shirt bore a statement in Russian, reading:

The most polite president.

Tarasov defended the action after the fixture, telling the Russian agency R-Sport:

It's my president. I respect him and decided to show that I'm always with him and prepared to give my support.

His club are expected to face disciplinary action from Uefa, as political statements are not permitted by the regulatory body in any fixture.