The Arsenal-owned playmaker had claimed that it was not the players' problem if his compatriots had felt let down by their performances in Poland and Ukraine
Andrey Arshavin has apologised for Russia's early exit at Euro 2012 after a senior figure at Gazprom called for the attacking midfielder to be deported over his negative reaction to criticism of the country's campaign.The 31-year-old caused outrage in his homeland by claiming that if people felt let down by Dick Advocaat's side then "it was their problem".
Valery Golubev, deputy chairman of Russian energy giant Gazprom, was enraged by Arshavin's response and fumed: "How can a citizen of Russia treat the honour of his country like that? He should be deported."
However, the player has now apologised, admitting that he should have handled the situation better.
"It's not right to shy away from it [the criticism]," Arshavin is quoted as saying by Reuters. "That's why I took this moment to say something on this subject. I will do it only once and will not talk about this any further.
"The result has disappointed us and, of course, all our fans. We understand that. As team captain, on behalf of our players and myself personally, I would like to apologise for our performance and the result that we had."
Russia bowed out of the tournament after suffering a shock defeat to Greece having put themselves in pole position to win Group A following an opening-round win over Czech Republic and a draw with co-hosts Poland.
