Russian Federation handed suspended disqualification from Euro 2016

England supporters have been travelling north ahead of Thursday’s Group B game with Lens, and a large number are staying in nearby Lille, which hosts tomorrow’s game between Russian Federation and Slovakia.

French police are trying to establish if any of the Russians are on a list of supporters “considered a risk”, said Francois-Xavier Lauch, a top local official in the Alpes-Maritimes area.

French police stopped a bus near Cannes on Tuesday carrying 29 Russian fans to Lille, where Russia plays Slovakia on June 15, Tass reported.

It added: “This decision only relates to the incidents which occurredinside the stadium and are therefore under the jurisdiction of theUEFA Disciplinary Bodies”.

It happened around an hour before England’s Group B opening match, a 1-1 draw, after which some Russian fans inside the stadium charged and fought with England fans.

French authorities expect between 40,000 and 50,000 England and Wales fans and 15,000 Russians to travel to the cities. “The punishment is excessive, but we can not influence it”, Mutko said. The fine is enormous as the Russian Football Union is a non-commercial organisation. On Monday, six English fans were jailed after 20 were arrested over the weekend.

Police surrounded the bus and forced the Russians to undergo identity checks.

Reporting from Lille, Euronews Andrei Beketov said: “When Russia was trailing two zero during the match, its supporters were downbeat but when they nearly equalised and they still lost they became frustrated and angry”.

The Kremlin’s condemnation of the violence came after Igor Lebedev, deputy speaker of Russia’s parliament, said the fans were “defending the honor of the country”, according to Life News.

In Lens, the police chief said alcohol sales would be prohibited from Wednesday at 6am to Friday at 6am in shops, supermarkets close to vehicle parks and petrol stations serving between Lille and Lens.

English fans suspected of disorder could face court action when they return to the United Kingdom in the form of football banning orders, the NPCC spokeswoman warned.

But Dzyuba indicated that England fans were equally to blame for the violence and that there was a campaign to take the 2018 World Cup away from the country.

The Guardian also reported that far-right activist and hooligan chieftain, Alexander Shprygin, is apparently an accredited member of the Russian delegation here in France.