England, Russia Fans Fight Before Match at Euro 2016
Third straight day of violence at Euro 2016, but this time the fights left one man fighting for his life.
Riot police had to break up a huge clash between England and Russia fans only hours before the countries met at Euro 2016.
The violence left a 51-year-old England supporter fighting for his life. Pictures show him on the “ground with blood pouring from a head wound while a French police officer tried to revive him.”
Two English football fans fights for their lives after attack from Russian thugs https://t.co/VqBrV2nMv6 pic.twitter.com/lCW3HAWnE7
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) June 11, 2016
The attacks occurred in France’s port city of Marseille at 3PM local time. It took the police four years to disperse the crowd.
From The Telegraph:
“It was the Russians that sparked it all off,” an England supporter insisted, “A whole gang of the [Russians] came right into the middle of everything and started throwing punches.”
Another said: “There’s this group of Russians who are proper mental. They threw everything at us – chairs, bottles – and they slashed us with knives. The French are also having a go.”
A third travelling fan said: “There’s literally an army of Russian fans marching over the hill towards the English supporters. It’s absolutely crazy.” Photographs seemed to back up at least some of those claims.
British journalists said everyone enjoyed a fun atmosphere until “a gang of black-clad Russians” leaked into the square “from a side street apparently seeking violence.”
French authorities arrested six individuals.
England fans threw bottles and chairs at the French riot police, who then fired tear gas into the crowd. The fight left the picturesque streets littered in broken glass and stained in blood.
European football’s governing body Uefa said it “firmly condemns the incidents in Marseille”, adding that “people engaging in such violent acts have no place in football”.
Earlier on Saturday, shadow home secretary Andy Burnham had said England fans’ behaviour was “embarrassing”, given the terrorism threat to France.
BBC News correspondent Nick Eardley, who is in Marseille, described the situation earlier as “pretty terrifying” as fans fought with Russia supporters.
People posted pictures and video from the riot. Some contain disturbing content.
https://twitter.com/ThePLZone/status/741718564512649216
Shocking behaviour in #Marseille shot this video tonight driving to my hotel #Eng @EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/7n4f4lAxD2
— Owen Humphreys (@owenhumphreys1) June 10, 2016
More attacks by Marseille locals on English fans captured by La Provence. pic.twitter.com/88IXwWlmkr
— GFFN EURO 2016 (@GFFNWC2018) June 11, 2016
England fans clash again with French police in Marseille ahead of #Euro2016 matchhttps://t.co/nSq6f4tcI4 https://t.co/Ybpdx7bScB
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 11, 2016
The drama continued inside Stade Velodrome. Right after the teams finished with a 1-1 tie, the “Russian fans ripped down English flags” and attacked England supporters.
England fans run for their lives as they're chased by Russian thugs in Stade Velodrome https://t.co/bim382x52L pic.twitter.com/vTgEZ1nwdJ
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) June 11, 2016
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, condemned the fights and said that “such violent acts have no place in football.”
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“It took the police four years to disperse the crowd.”
Wait. What?
(Insert Dr. Who theme…)
The left has worked hard to displace ‘American’ sports with soccer soccer in American schools. They’ve succeeded to a large extent.
Their handiwork, coupled with Obama and Clinton’s destruction of our border, will yield us the above.
“UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, condemned the fights and said that “such violent acts have no place in football.””
Honestly, brutal gang fights is the only thing I DO associate with Euroball.
England has stopped protecting and supporting their fellow English men, just as Germany is abandoning their citizens.
Strangely enough, “fooball hooliganism” is a treasured form of nostalgia in Britain. Some of its exemplars are quite articulate, and can lecture on the theory of British hooliganism at some length. They consider violence (at least the right violence) a virtue, though not at home games; this is strictly a matter of simulating and remembering intermittent British dominance of Continental affairs, both commercially, with its startling output due to the Industrial Revolution, rivaled in Europe only by Germany, and its military dominance, stretching from the Hundred Years’ War to the Peninsular Campaign. Those days are gone, and they’re missed. But if Britain can’t excel commercially or militarily, well, at least it can have the best hooligans in Europe. That, at least, is the theory. Football hooliganism is routinely condemned, but that’s really pro forma; there’s no hint that it’s going away any time soon.
The Russian angle, though, is new. British hooliganism against Russians has no historical basis. On the other hand, Russians have the same nostalgia for an era when their beloved Rodina dominated Europe—at least in imagination—from the east. So Russian football hooliganism could have the same theoretical underpinnings as does British.
With any luck, both will eventually come around to the view that it’s not really all that much fun.
“With any luck, both will eventually come around to the view that it’s not really all that much fun.”
A good ass-kicking will do that.
Along with the predicted violence I have been keeping an eye open for a threatened alliance between English & Russian Hooligans in an attack on Muslims in France which may still materialize although not with the “Pig of Marseilles” but instead with his English acolytes as James Shayler has had a travel ban imposed.
AN English thug dubbed the “Pig of Marseilles” has vowed to return to the French city to target Muslims. […] Police had feared England fans may clash with far right Russian yobs at the game. But Shayler, of Wellingborough, Northants, claims THE TWO FACTIONS WILL INSTEAD UNITE TO LAUNCH ATTACKS ON MUSLIMS.HE SAID: “THE RUSSIANS HATE THEM, DON’T THEY? ENGLAND WILL BE WITH RUSSIA AGAINST THE MUSLIMS.’’He said: “The Russians are getting me the tickets for Marseilles, for the Russian game, so more than likely I’ll be watching at their end.’’
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/517599/English-football-hooligan-attack-Muslims-Euro-2016-Marseilles
Euro 2016 travel ban for ‘Pig of Marseille’ James Shayler – BBC News
A football hooligan known as the ‘Pig of Marseille’ has been barred from travelling to France for England’s opening game of Euro 2016.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-36503115
As always with “the beautiful game,” there’s more action off the pitch than on it.
I think we need to find ways to promote soccer in the US. The world plays soccer.