France jails 3 Russians, to deport 20 for Euro 2016 violence

Armed riot police fired tear gas at England football fans, and 16 people were hospitalised on Wednesday night.

Tens of thousands of England and Wales fans have descended on Lens for the match, and countless more are supporting from home.

Gorbachev is the head of the fan club for English Premier League Arsenal in the Russian city of Tula, while Erunov is the director of fan relations at Moscow football club FC Locomotiv, the Mediazona news website reported. A 26-year-old supporter of the Russian club Spartak from the Volga city of Samara, he said he had been involved in the fighting, but denied hitting the English fan who suffered brain damage. Flares and bangers were lit as officers charged at chanting fans as fights broke out, with officers saying 36 fans were arrested.

“It is extremely sad that this is the second death of a Northern Ireland fan in France during the Euro 2016 games”.

The images in Lille seemed likely to serve as grist to the mill for Russia’s team and the Kremlin – coming shortly after Moscow’s Foreign Ministry summoned France’s ambassador to complain about perceived double standards in how police had handled violent supporters.

The regional administration said in a statement: “Lille city centre was the scene of scuffles…provoked essentially by drunken British nationals, forcing police to intervene to disperse them”.

The match took place yesterday in Lille, and the influx of an unspecified number of English supporters from the nearby Lens, where England will play Wales today, sparked a number of clashes.

Many locals near the central Flandres train station were caught up in the situation as police managed to split the groups as more than 100 England fans were dispersed.

Yesterday, UEFA handed Russia a suspended disqualification over crowd disturbances at its game against England in Marseille, and the country’s football federation was given a €150,000 fine. Police did not find the weapon used by the attacker.

It also all happened before England’s game against neighboring Wales on Thursday.

After a tense stand-off at about 10pm, police rushed at a group of approximately 200 rowdy supporters who were singing and setting off flares outside a pub.

The fan zone will be open on Thursday but the Lyon prefect will meet with the company in charge of its security in order to reinforce pat-downs at entrances. “But I don’t think these fans are looking for trouble, just having good time”.