Russian Federation fans stormed a section of England supporters inside the stadium moments after a 1-1 draw between the countries at the European Championship on Saturday, ending another day of violence and rioting in the southern French city of Marseille.
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The violence escalated on Saturday ahead of a match between England and Russian Federation, who are set to face off at 9 p.m. local time.
Further clashes have taken place with police, who used water cannon, tear gas, dogs and batons to control England fans, and are now engaged with supporters near the ground in Marseille.
The peaceful scenes of fans mingling with tourists as relaxed police looked on was a stark contrast to the clashes of Friday night, when police fired tear gas to disperse fans and break up fights, a repeat of Thursday night clashes at the port.
AFP journalists saw a man with a bloodied face receiving treatment on the ground after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Fans of Russian clubs Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg were “active” in the fighting, Shprygin said, but would not comment on whether a group of Russian fans had attacked English supporters.
“Once again, as over the last 30 years, an global football competition has been the scene of clashes between violent people claiming to be supporters of their national team”, Cazeneuve said in a statement.
A late equalizer should have been the story out of Russia’s dramatic match against England on Saturday, but instead fan violence marred an exciting draw as Euro 2016 action continues.
A UEFA spokesman said: “People engaging in such violent acts have no place in football”. “I thought he was tiring, like a lot of players out there”, explained Hodgson.
“Our emotions went from a high to a low pretty quickly”, he admitted.
England manager Roy Hodgson lamented Russia’s stoppage-time equaliser as Eric Dier’s brilliant free-kick failed to deliver victory in their Euro 2016 opener in Marseille.
As disappointed as I and no doubt many thousands of England fans are after throwing away two points against Russian Federation, I have to say I feel very positive.
However, what happened during the match will be overshadowed by the fan violence before and after.
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Londoner Michael Tashall, who is in Marseille, told the Press Association: “We were in the Old Port town and the Russian ultras ganged up with the Marseilles ultras and attacked the English supporters that were sitting there drinking beers”. Some fans walked through the city bare-chested and with blood dripping from head wounds. Photos and video from the stadium show stewards attempting to restore order as some besieged fans jumped over perimeter fences in an attempt to flee.
