FA chief executive Martin Glenn said misbehaviour by England supporters in the centre of Marseille before the game had been “embarrassing”.
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ENGLAND has written to UEFA to raise “serious concerns” over security arrangements in Lille ahead of Thursday night’s Euro 2016 clash with Wales in Lens.
UEFA has issued a warning that the Russian national team ran the risk of disqualification from the tournament in case of more violent incidents.
It ordered the “suspended disqualification” of the team in the event of any more disturbances inside stadiums during the tournament and fined the Russian Football Union 150,000 euros ($170,000).
Talking about violence involving Russian fans, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said separately the Kremlin hoped there would be no further “excesses” and that any investigations into violence would be even-handed. Aren’t there enough problems in the world to add soccer fan violence to it?
The day after that, 11 June, Saturday was when England settled for a 1-1 draw against Russian Federation.
The violence in the stadium followed three days of clashes between English, Russian and French fans in the Mediterranean port city that drew a strong response from riot police, including volleys of tear gas and baton charges.
On Tuesday, Moscow again urged Russian fans to observe the laws of the country they are visiting.
After the final whistle in Marseille on Saturday, a group of Russian Federation fans in a poorly segregated area behind one goal stormed a section of England supporters.
They arm themselves with iron bars, chairs and bottles before attacking England fans, fighting running battles through the streets of the city as their targets flee.
French authorities have said they expect between 40,000 and 50,000 England and Wales fans and 15,000 Russians to gather in Lille with a smaller number of Slovak supporters.
The crowd troubles have certainly taken the gloss off what has otherwise been an excellent start to Euro 2016, but with UEFA now imposing sanctions, there will hopefully be an end to the disturbances.
“Having said that, let me be clear, we join you in condemning the terrible scenes in Marseille away from the stadium on Thursday, Friday and match day”.
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UEFA had initially threatened Russia with a six-point deduction in Euro 2016 qualifying but that was removed when the Russian Football Union appealed to UEFA.
