“We are making a plea to all England fans to remember that they are in a different country and that the best way to support the team is to be patriotic but respectful – yes have a drink and sing a song but nothing else”, he was quoted as saying in the paper’s Monday edition.
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“Unacceptable for the authorities, unacceptable for society, unacceptable for football lovers”.
The French government gave police chiefs powers to ban alcohol sales and consumption from the day before matches near the 10 stadiums and fan zones being used for the month-long, 24-nation tournament.
UEFA confirmed on Sunday that it will open disciplinary proceedings against the Russian Football Union as a result and expressed its “utter disgust” at the violent scenes.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called the fans’ behaviour barbaric and said it was “absolutely necessary that national federations whose supporters create incidents of this nature be penalised”.
European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, has said it is “disgusted” by the scuffles inside and outside the stadium in Marseille and has threatened to throw the Russian and English teams out of the championship if the violence persists.
At the final whistle Russian supporters jumped barriers and charged English fans, while a flare gun was sacked at England fans in a major security breach.
“To make the same threat against both countries would seem to put the behaviour of both sets of fans on a par and I think that’s unjust as well”, he told Press Association Sport.
Russian Federation has been charged by UEFA over crowd disturbances, racist behavior by fans and the setting off of fireworks at the game. But the crucial thing is here, the Russians and the locals here who have been attacking football fans have been stone cold sober.
Russia, which is hosting the 2018 World Cup, is under intense scrutiny after the shocking behaviour of its fans.
“The large majority of the Russian supporters as well as the English ones have been impeccably behaved”.
At least one Briton is understood to be in a critical condition.
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The tournament is being played under a state of emergency after Islamist militants attacked Paris in November, killing 130 people.
