Moscow Government Will Send Soccer Hooligans to ‘Culture Center’ to Help Calm Down

Moscow’s government has a plan to help rowdy Russian soccer fans calm down. It will soon open a “culture center” to help combat violence that takes place at games and in the streets surrounding stadia, according to Russia Today.

Authorities plan on inviting fans who are getting in trouble or violating public order to the culture center. There, people will have the opportunity to calm down in a variety of ways.

They can wrestle, box, and the center says it will “…even allow artistically gifted fans to spray graffiti on the walls.”

Moscow’s government initially came up with the idea to create a club where fans are able to relax. Its hope is that younger fans will head off the streets and to the new culture center.

The head of Russian club Spartak-Moscow’s fan club, Oleg Semyonov, praised the idea.

Semyonov said centers similar to the one being built for soccer fans “…should be open not just for [soccer] fans, but for everyone willing to reveal their inner talents,” in an interview with Bolshoi Gorod magazine.

Russian authorities plan on building the culture center on the site of an old movie theater in Moscow.

Photo via Flickr/Kate_Lokteva