European soccer’s governing body is trying to fight back against hooligans, who’ve set out to ruin the 2016 UEFA European Championship in France.
UEFA on Sunday threatened the national teams of England and Russia with expulsion from Euro 2016 if their fans engage in any more violence during this summer’s tournament. Fans of both teams were involved in three days of violence in Marseille, France, before, during and after Saturday’s Russia-England Euro 2016 game. The shocking scenes included an in-stadium attack on England fans by some Russia supporters immediately following the final whistle.
UEFA strongly condemned the Russian attackers and England supporters in a strongly worded statement, and called on the countries’ respective football associations to help control their fans.
“The UEFA Executive Committee would like to express its disgust for the violent clashes which occurred in the city of Marseille,” UEFA said in a statement, according to Sky Sports. “Such unacceptable behaviour by so-called supporters of the national teams of England and Russia has no place in football, a sport we must protect and defend.
“The UEFA Executive Committee has warned both football associations that — irrespective of any decisions taken by the independent disciplinary bodies relating to incidents inside the stadium — it will not hesitate to impose additional sanctions on the Football Association (FA) and the Russian Football Union (RFU), including the potential disqualification of their respective teams from the tournament, should such violence occur again.
“We urge both the FA and the RFU to appeal to their supporters to behave in a responsible and respectful manner.
“We would also like to publicly voice our support for the work of the French authorities and security forces for their efforts to deliver a safe and secure tournament in challenging circumstances.”
England and Russia played to a 1-1 draw, but the battle inside the Stade Velodrome overshadowed a fine soccer game, which included a surprise ending.
