“WELL TRAINED” RUSSIAN hooligans were behind the violence that erupted in Marseille when Russia played England in a Euro 2016 match, prosecutors have said.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told a news conference that 150 Russian football supporters “were well prepared for ultra-rapid, ultra-violent action”.
BBC News reports that Robins said 10 people – six Britons, three French and an Austrian – face an immediate trial. Two Russians are among several other people who have been arrested.
About 35 people have been injured, some seriously, following three days of clashes in the French city.
Britain’s Assistant Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing, has appealed for fans with footage of the violence to contact crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers.
Meanwhile, England manager and captain Roy Hodgson and Wayne Rooney have urged supporters to stay out of trouble and “respect the opponents and their fans”.
English fans involved in the bloody clashes at the weekend insisted Russian hooligans and French police were to blame, as fears mounted of fresh violence to come.
UEFA has warned that both sides could be thrown out of the tournament if their fans are involved in more disturbances.
England fans have insisted that Russian supporters should shoulder most of the blame for clashes before Saturday’s game, as well as in the stadium following the final whistle.
Harold Amos (26) told the Times he and his brother were attacked in Marseille before Saturday’s match.
“Out of nowhere, 300 Russians came running out of an alley. We didn’t have anywhere to go,” Harold said. “The Russians were proper street fighters, they had gumshields and MMA (mixed martial arts) gloves.”
‘They don’t know how to fight’
Earlier a Russian fighter told AFP: “The English always say they are the main football hooligans. We went to show that the English are girls.”
Many hooligans have little interest in the games and will not care if UEFA disqualifies their team, he added.
I think it’s a decision that won’t influence in any way what hooligans do next. Nothing will stop these people.
He contrasted Russian hooligans with England fans, who he described as “big older men who drink a lot of beer”.
“Fans or hooligans from Russia are mainly younger, aged 20-30 and at home most of them are into sports. They do sports like boxing or all kinds of martial arts,” he said.
“The aim is to come and prove that English fans aren’t hooligans, they don’t know how to fight. A lot of Russian guys come specially with this aim.”
- with reporting by Órla Ryan
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