maramos

All this violence between fans is disgusting.
Police should crack down hard on these idiots.

ChrisBan

Not that it makes it right, but seems to be a heavy handedness from the police that is at least stoking it. Then add in groups of individuals who seem to actively be seeking out fans from certain countries and this is bound to happen. England fans in particular haven't been this troublesome on the continent to this scale for years.

Will be a shame if England once again go out at the group stage (which, considering how well Wales played is highly possible) and their legacy/impact in this tournament is all the off field trouble.

MillieF

Whist the violence might be disgusting, it's not really a surprise, is it? Football violence has always been somewhat entrenched in our psyche. Whenever West Ham and Tottenham were playing each other, the police preparations brought large areas to a standstill, I know the clubs tried various ploys to make the games more 'family friendly' but it never realy worked. The elements that go to get well and truly wasted and then have a good fight will be ever drawn, it would seem. You then add cheap travel to France, good French booze and the chance to have a poke at Jonny Foreigner and what could possibly go wrong

Rugby has never seemed to have encouraged such violent groups of hooligans, nationally or internationally...perhaps the odd scrummage after a match, but not the organized chaos that has dogged football for years.

It must be dreadful for true fans of the game. I have been to a few football and rugby matches in my time and enjoyed the well humored crowds and singing at rugby, but didn't enjoy the frisson of tension at the football much.

Danny B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUex...ature=youtu.be

mikelincs

These people are NOT England supporters or fans, they have gone over there just for the cheap booze and a chance of having a fight with other 'fans'. Most of them will not be going to games as they don't have tickets. The ones known to have involvement in football violence have had to surrender their passports, so these are 'new' ones, or at least ones that heven't yet been caught. The violence inside the stadium does seem to have been caused by the Russian fans, and the Russian minister for sport has already said he expects a big fine from UEFA.

dbd33

Pallid flesh
Huge beer guts
Too much body exposed
Drunk
Bad Tats
Short hair
Looking for a fight

Yes, they are England supporters.

magnumpi

So England is back in the export business, whats new !!

Shard

How does the saying go...football, a game for barbarians played by gentlemen; rugby, a game for gentlemen played by barbarians.

mikelincs

No, they may be English, but that fact alone doesn't make them supporters. I bet non of them had a ticket for the match, just went there for a punch up.

Tangram

Too true

magnumpi

They all do it !! Any Brits abroad even just on holiday, Booze = Violence

French rugby match halted by violent brawl as players and supporters of Beziers and Biarritz fight at side of pitch | Daily Mail Online

Salford Red Devils owner promises LIFE BANS for fans involved in shocking rugby brawl | UK | News | Daily Express

Pizzawheel

Other way round... soccer is a gentlemanly game played by beasts, rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen... and football is a beastly game played by beasts.

magnumpi

UEFA say Russia and England will be disqualified from Euro 2016 if violence continues

BristolUK

The usual UEFA double standards then. Little or no action when it comes to mass racism in the stadium but bans for the odd technicality of a late registration of player and now....

UEFA announces they can take zero action for incidents outside of stadia but it's accepted that the trouble inside the stadium yesterday was exclusively wreaked by Russian supporters, hence them investigating only Russia and not England.

European football’s governing body expressed its “utter disgust” and opened disciplinary proceedings against Russia for crowd disturbances, racist behaviour by fans and fireworks being set off during the match against England in Marseille on Saturday. A parallel case has not been opened against the English Football Association.......Russian fans broke through lax security inside the stadium at the end of the match to attack England fans, including families, who were fleeing for the exit. Earlier in the day, around 200 Russians had attacked England supporters in the old port area of the city, causing serious injuries.


So any repeat, and perpetrators as well as victims may be thrown out.

BristolUK

Couple of excerpts from a guardian article:
Rebekah Vardy, wife of the England footballer Jamie Vardy, has admitted that she feared for her own safety and felt threatened rather than protected by the police’s heavy-handed tactics ahead of the Euro 2016 group match against Russia in Marseille on Saturday. Mrs Vardy also strongly criticised the authorities for the lack of organisation around the stadium and the absence of proper security checks outside.

Although she never witnessed any violence in Marseille prior to the game, Mrs Vardy said that she was caught up in a state of “sheer panic” among supporters after police used teargas to drive fans towards the stadium and into an area where the main access gates were closed.

The police are meant to be there to protect you. Well, I didn’t feel protected; I felt threatened.”

“If you turned back the other way you were running into teargas, if you went towards the gates people were pushing and climbing all over you to try and get out. The police had herded everyone into this area and were throwing teargas into the crowds, and people were panicking and had nowhere to go unless they could climb over the fences. People were trying to do that but they were falling over on to concrete, cutting their faces, blood everywhere. I was scared, petrified, and there was a split-second when I thought: ‘I’m not getting out of here.’”

She and her entourage will likely have been in a part of the ground away from ordinary fans.