European soccer’s governing body UEFA said it was disgusted by melees inside and outside the stadium in Marseille – where the English and Russian sides played on Saturday – and threatened to expel both teams from the championship if the violence persisted.
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Masked Russia supporters charged at England fans, punching and kicking them, after the final whistle of the 1-1 Group B draw in Marseille on Saturday.
England fans came under attack following the 1-1 draw at the Stade Velodrome, with images showing Russian thugs chasing supporters inside the stadium.
Alexander Shprygin, head of the Russian Union of Supporters, tweeted that a bus taking Russian fans to Lille was stopped and searched by riot police in Mandelieu, near Cannes in southern France, on Tuesday. “What other position can there be?” he said, but later described the decision as “excessive”.
The suspension of the disqualification means that Russian Federation will be allowed to remain in the tournament as long as there are no additional instances of fan violence.
The sanctions against the RFU were outlined in a statement by the independent UEFA body, in which it confirmed: “A suspended disqualification of the Russian national team from UEFA Euro 2016 for the crowd disturbances”. Dozens of English supporters, including women and children, had to flee across security barriers to escape.
RFU president Vitaly Mutko, who is also sports minister, told Russia’s TASS news agency “A disciplinary decision has been made and we are waiting for an official notification”.
A group of Russian football supporters have been detained in France prior to their deportation because authorities fear they will cause trouble at Euro 2016 matches.
Mr Williams said: “My initial reaction is that I’m very disappointed that there has been disorder”.
“We don’t want to be disqualified for this situation”.
As many as 50,000 English and Welsh fans will come to Lens, local authorities said, basing their figures on travel bookings.
On Monday the chief prosecutor of Marseille said that a group of 150 well-organised, “hyper-violent” Russian hooligans were behind a series of clashes in the city over the weekend.
Fans should obey the law in France and should not react to provocations, Peskov said.
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Trouble also flared in the city in the days before the game, and the Football Association has also been warned that England could be kicked out if there are further disturbances.
