Russian fans deported from France but plan to return

Russian Federation forward Fyodor Smolov blamed England and Wales supporters on Sunday for the violence that marred the opening days of the European Championship. But nothing as bad as the violence witnessed last week in the south.

Two of the three who were convicted were members of the board at Shprygin’s organization, and the third was an associate of Shprygin in a Dynamo Moscow fan club. He denied playing any role in the violence.

That offence carries a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros (US$16,900).

All three also face a two-year ban from France upon release.

Shprygin told The Associated Press that Russian fans had been unfairly victimized by French authorities.

“What has happened to us is a complete outrage”, Shprygin said by telephone from the airport, adding the 20 were not involved in any disorder.

“We’ve filed an appeal against our removal”.

The group was put on a flight from Nice to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport earlier Saturday after French investigators were unable to slap specific charges on its members but said they suspected some of them were violent and well-organised hooligans.

Body-cam footage uploaded online shows Russian ultras ambushing and attacking English fans in the streets. Two teams have already been warned but France is looking to stop the violence for the rest of the tournament.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has weighed into the controversy over fan violence during Euro 2016, declaring: “I don’t know how 200 Russian fans could fight several thousand of the British”.

More than 300 arrests have been made since the tournament began on Friday.

Russian officials meanwhile have expressed conflicting opinions about fighting among football fans, spanning from condemnation to outright endorsement.

Six English fans have been given shorter jail sentences for the violence.

In Lille, some mobs of Englishmen in Lille went on a rampage searching for Russian fans whose team played Slovakia in the city.

However, he said that he would not look for confrontation with Russians. A few England fans have also been detained. A fourth fan was thrown out of the country.

Fans discussing games on social media have been combining the names of the two teams taking part to make a new hashtag, such as #engwal for when England played Wales.

However, they were eventually beaten 2-1 following Daniel Sturridge’s stoppage-time victor and now need a positive result against Russian Federation to progress.

Local authorities in Lyon said the altercation broke up Wednesday evening after French supporters started to sing France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise”.

In response to the violence, European football’s governing body UEFA has told Russian Federation it will be disqualified from Euro 2016 if its fans cause any more violence in stadiums. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form.