[Football] UEFA has threatened to disqualify England and Russia from Euro 2016

[BigGully]

I don't think I'm going to settle your nerves BigGully!

I was in Lens in 98, again following the violence in Marseille. French CRS reaction was to go completely OTT with absolutely no provocation. And we were playing Columbia then, not our old foes the Welsh with the Russians 30 mins on a train away! Am predicting a locked down war zone in Lens and Lille with French robocops itching to tear gas/baton charge innocents this week.

I dont doubt it, he has tickets for the Russian v Slovakia, still not sure if that a good thing or not !!!

 

[The Fifth Column]

French police were absolute cowards in Marseille, rather than take on an organised gang of 150+ tooled up Russian hooligans they chose instead to target the softer target of England fans the vast majority of whom were entirely law abiding fans just out to enjoy the event. I'm not saying that there weren't a fair few of the usual bell ends out there luzzing chairs and getting involved but I can see no evidence of the French police chasing, charging and tear gassing the Russian group who were the cause of the most disturbing and serious violence. As one journalist in the Guardian put it, they were largely too busy posing by their vans looking moody rather than doing their jobs. Le tosseurs.

 

[The Fifth Column]

Well....they should be condemning them just like we should be condemning ours

They seem to like to be hated the Russians, its being reported over there almost with a sense of national pride that their hooligans are rampaging through France dishing out a good kicking to any europeans that get in their way. Dreadful nation, dreadful people - a world cup there is a recipe for disaster. Blatter and Platini's legacy lives on.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Igor Lebedev says Russian fans involved in violence in Marseille should be praised for ‘defending the honour of their country’

Shaun Walker in Moscow
Monday 13 June 2016 13.06 BST Last modified on Monday 13 June 2016 13.10 BST
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A top football official in Moscow has praised the Russian fans involved in violence over the weekend in Marseille, saying they had defended their country’s honour and should be forgiven.

“I don’t see anything wrong with the fans fighting,” Igor Lebedev wrote on Twitter. “Quite the opposite, well done lads, keep it up!”

Lebedev, who sits on the executive committee of the Russian football union, is an MP from the nationalist Liberal Democratic party and the deputy chairman of the Russian parliament.

“I don’t understand those politicians and officials who are criticising our fans. We should defend them, and then we can sort it out when they come home,” Lebedev wrote in a series of tweets.

“What happened in Marseille and in other French towns is not the fault of fans, but about the inability of police to organise this kind of event properly.”

Calls to his office went unanswered on Monday, but the Twitter account is believed to be genuine and the sentiments were echoed in comments given to the news website life.ru.

“In nine out of 10 cases, football fans go to games to fight, and that’s normal. The lads defended the honour of their country and did not let English fans desecrate our motherland. We should forgive and understand our fans,” Lebedev told the news agency.

He added that it was unfair that Russian fans were being targeted for criticism when it was England fans who had begun the violence, and also noted that there had been violence involving other fans at the tournament, including ahead of the match between Poland and Northern Ireland.

“Our fans are far from the worst; it’s unclear why a lot of media are trying to say our fans’ actions were shameful. You should be objective. If there had been no provocation from English fans, it’s unlikely our fans would have got into fights in the stands.”

Uefa has opened a disciplinary case against Russia for the scenes after the final whistle in their game against England. The violence came after several days of violence in Marseille, much of it involving England fans. Uefa has warned both England and Russia they could be thrown out of the tournament if the violence continues.


Lebedev’s comments are likely to raise huge concern, given that Russia is due to host the world cup in two years. Their tone is in contrast to that of the sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, who criticised the fans involved in fighting.

Mutko initially downplayed the clashes saying media had exaggerated them, but later admitted it was right for Uefa to bring disciplinary proceedings against Russia and condemned the clashes. “It’s clear that some people didn’t come here to watch football. They’ve covered their faces and then brought shame on their country,” he said.

Mutko was criticised for standing on the pitch after the final whistle and appearing to egg on Russian fans, just metres from where clashes with England fans were taking place. Lebedev suggested that if Mutko had been in the stands, he would have joined in the fighting.

“We ought to thank him for not being indifferent to football, and for the fact that he doesn’t just get involved in the sporting side but also gives a lot of attention to work with the supporters... I personally think that if Mutko had been with the fans in the stands and was not an official, he would have also have got into the fight with the England fans, because they provoked it.”

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Some of the elders on this site will recall there used to be an international football competition [involving European teams] which ran for a 100 years and was last contested in 1984.
One of the reasons for its abolishment was VIOLENCE amongst rival fans!

If other countries, not just England, are rucking, why not do the same thing and call it a day for the European tournament?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

That's a very angry post.Calm down.See someone.

No, that's nothing like an angry post.

 

[BigGully]

Honestly the noise coming from the media relating to England supporters is probably because we only hear reports concerning the home nations. I'm assuming that German, Ukraine and Russian news agencies are giving their following the air time they deserve.

Playing the 'blame poor England' card doesn't wash. It was the England 'fans' who were up to their usual antics three days earlier to the sad scenes within the ground. All over social media were scenes of English louts drinking, singing abusive and derogatory songs, throwing bottles and chairs and acting in an embarrassing way. To which I saw comments showing pride and support.

Only when another group turn up do people start blaming other fans. It's childlike.

I think it's pointless pointing blame as all involved were acting like complete tools. We've seen it before and we will probably see it again.

It's embarrassing to be linked to such people. They look and sound like uneducated, unfit, unhealthy, badly dressed degenerates. They seem to have no idea about national pride. They fail to show anyone any respect and portray themselves as tacky looking fools who think they come from a better place than anyone else.

The vast majority look like the same bunch of turds that rant and rave about foreigners that come to our country and take our jobs. They seem happy to repay this by creating extra work for the people of countries they visit.

I don't ambit to having much national pride but if I had any it would be desolved by now. I would welcome a ban on England as I think this would be the only real deterrent. Tackling it with riot police only fuels there ambitions.

My ultimate concern would be for a extremist to decide to start opening fire with a gun at a metro station 2 miles away while the police are busy dealing with Phil and grant look a likes. Taking resources away for needles thuggery could cause fatality figures to increase, if an attack (as warned) were to take place.

If I could explain that to some of them I would but I don't think they would understand it. As they do appear a bit thick.

I wonder if they would take a responsibility for that?

I think there is much truth in what you say, but the police should be obliged to deal with those that cause trouble, irrespective of their nationality whilst protecting the vast majority that have no inclination for even a derogatory song, again irrespective of their nationality.

It seems that if you are English then the POLICE have decided that we are owed a kicking for previous misdemeanours of the 80's and 90's, that cannot be right and should never be accepted as an inevitability, from what is supposed to be a progressive and sophisticated European neighbour.

 

[Bladders]

No wonder the French are useless at finding terrorist cells, they cant even find hundreds of Russian fans leaving one city and travelling to the next.

 

[The Fifth Column]

I imagine FIFAs response to calls to strip Russia of WC2018 will be along the lines of, "The actions of 150 so called fans will not be allowed to undermine the wonderful WC tournament our Russian friends will surely deliver and we are working closely with the Russian Football Union to address any issues to ensure a safe and enjoyable tournament for everyone who attends, in any case I have the best part of 500,000 euros of Mr Putin's money sloshing around in my secret swiss bank account and I imagine he probably won't be very happy if we cancel it, gulp!"

 

[Clive Walker]

I think there is much truth in what you say, but the police should be obliged to deal with those that cause trouble, irrespective of their nationality whilst protecting the vast majority that have no inclination for even a derogatory song, again irrespective of their nationality.

It seems that if you are English then the POLICE have decided that we are owed a kicking for previous misdemeanours of the 80's and 90's, that cannot be right and should never be accepted as an inevitability, from what is supposed to be a progressive and sophisticated European neighbour.

I would assume that the police were expecting trouble from the English and were proved right from Thursday onwards. When the Russians arrived I think they were overwhelmed or busy still dealing with the English.

As reported here the Russians were far more organised so that could explain it also.

 

[AK74]

No wonder the French are useless at finding terrorist cells, they cant even find hundreds of Russian fans leaving one city and travelling to the next.

 

[The Fifth Column]

I think there is much truth in what you say, but the police should be obliged to deal with those that cause trouble, irrespective of their nationality whilst protecting the vast majority that have no inclination for even a derogatory song, again irrespective of their nationality.

It seems that if you are English then the POLICE have decided that we are owed a kicking for previous misdemeanours of the 80's and 90's, that cannot be right and should never be accepted as an inevitability, from what is supposed to be a progressive and sophisticated European neighbour.

I tend to agree, i think that is EXACTLY what the French police mentality is and we have seen ample evidence of it over the last 3-4 days. Why risk getting into a serious ruck with a bunch of steroid fuelled muscle bound hard as fook Russians when you could instead randomly baton a slightly overweight bloke called Derek from Cheltenham sitting on a bollard minding his own business enjoying a beer?

 

[BigGully]

I would assume that the police were expecting trouble from the English and were proved right from Thursday onwards. When the Russians arrived I think they were overwhelmed or busy still dealing with the English.

As reported here the Russians were far more organised so that could explain it also.

Perhaps, but there were little gangs of locals added to the mix too, if as you say they expected trouble then they needed to be prepared for trouble.

Which ever way you wrap this up, they seemed pretty bad and protected the innocent or apprehending the guilty.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Honestly the noise coming from the media relating to England supporters is probably because we only hear reports concerning the home nations. I'm assuming that German, Ukraine and Russian news agencies are giving their following the air time they deserve.

Playing the 'blame poor England' card doesn't wash. It was the England 'fans' who were up to their usual antics three days earlier to the sad scenes within the ground. All over social media were scenes of English louts drinking, singing abusive and derogatory songs, throwing bottles and chairs and acting in an embarrassing way. To which I saw comments showing pride and support.

Only when another group turn up do people start blaming other fans. It's childlike.

I think it's pointless pointing blame as all involved were acting like complete tools. We've seen it before and we will probably see it again.

It's embarrassing to be linked to such people. They look and sound like uneducated, unfit, unhealthy, badly dressed degenerates. They seem to have no idea about national pride. They fail to show anyone any respect and portray themselves as tacky looking fools who think they come from a better place than anyone else.

The vast majority look like the same bunch of turds that rant and rave about foreigners that come to our country and take our jobs. They seem happy to repay this by creating extra work for the people of countries they visit.

I don't ambit to having much national pride but if I had any it would be desolved by now. I would welcome a ban on England as I think this would be the only real deterrent. Tackling it with riot police only fuels there ambitions.

My ultimate concern would be for a extremist to decide to start opening fire with a gun at a metro station 2 miles away while the police are busy dealing with Phil and grant look a likes. Taking resources away for needles thuggery could cause fatality figures to increase, if an attack (as warned) were to take place.

If I could explain that to some of them I would but I don't think they would understand it. As they do appear a bit thick.

I wonder if they would take a responsibility for that?

Not sure the French launching into strikes and protest during a high risk time for their nation is particularly helpful? The early pictures of England fans followed the same format of lets show the England fans reacting and get some easy news,the russians have since turned up but not as hooligans but as the master race,it can't have escaped people that the similarity to German S A thugs of the 20's is quite frightening. This is a glimpse into whats occurring in russia and once you have a brutalized and motivated a nation with a hatred of outsiders then we all know what can happen.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Some of the elders on this site will recall there used to be an international football competition [involving European teams] which ran for a 100 years and was last contested in 1984.
One of the reasons for its abolishment was VIOLENCE amongst rival fans!

If other countries, not just England, are rucking, why not do the same thing and call it a day for the European tournament?

££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

[Clive Walker]

Not sure the French launching into strikes and protest during a high risk time for their nation is particularly helpful? The early pictures of England fans followed the same format of lets show the England fans reacting and get some easy news,the russians have since turned up but not as hooligans but as the master race,it can't have escaped people that the similarity to German S A thugs of the 20's is quite frightening. This is a glimpse into whats occurring in russia and once you have a brutalized and motivated a nation with a hatred of outsiders then we all know what can happen.

Just on your fist point. Although I admit to not knowing the full background, normally strikes and protest have a fundamental reason behind them that people care passionately about and in some cases have a detrimental impact on their lives. Throwing a chair because you are a thicko doesn't come close to being of significant importance.

Your second point I would agree but doesn't make anyone better or worse than the other.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Just on your fist point. Although I admit to not knowing the full background, normally strikes and protest have a fundamental reason behind them that people care passionately about and in some cases have a detrimental impact on their lives. Throwing a chair because you are a thicko doesn't come close to being of significant importance.

Your second point I would agree but doesn't make anyone better or worse than the other.

So throwing a bottle back at someone is the same as trying to kill an innocent stranger because he is not of your country,glad thats clear then

 

[Captain Sensible]

Sorry if fixtures, but this is the best article I've read on this subject.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soc...ians-go-to-war-with-an-english-myth-1.2682005

 

[albionite]

All I say is those that are over there be safe, can see more trouble brewing maybe a few English fans thinking of getting revenge.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...l-to-arrest-any-russian-hooligans-after-mars/

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Fair enough, but shirley you'd agree that the very last thing the French security forces needed on top of the very real threat of a terrorist attack was having to deal with these muppets?

I mostly agree with you, but I think we've also heard a great deal from the poor innocent bystander who has been attacked, tear gassed or dodged missiles. On a news report you saw some guys go running towards a bar that England supporters were drinking at and some England running away only to be met by an overly agressive group of French police. It's very frustrating and I will condone any fan who causes trouble, my concern here is the situation isn't as clear as the conclusion people appear to be jumping to.