Russia, England could be thrown out of Euro 2016
UEFA has threatened to kick Russia and England out of the Euro 2016 due to violence by their fans amid an opening match.
The Saturday encounter which ended 1-1 in Marseille, France, brought about continuous battles between the Russians and the English.
In its public "warning," UEFA expressed “disgust” at the scenes, whose pictures shocked the social media, saying the teams could be thrown out if violence persists.
The incident, marking the worst violence at an international tournament since the 1998 World Cup, left dozens injured.
Targeting Russia but not England
UEFA has launched an investigation into what happened before and after the game and is set to recommend punishment on Tuesday.
FIFA also censured the Russian and English "idiotic troublemakers” for creating "shameful scenes."
UEFA is opening a disciplinary case against Russian fans over crowd disturbances with England escaping a similar probe.
The UEFA executive committee said "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."
The English are said to be at fault only in clashes outside the stadium, making UEFA exempt from opening such a case.
“Yes, we have a problem, but there shouldn’t be double standards. It doesn’t make sense why UEFA would open a case against Russia but not against England,” Russian sports journalist Artur Petrosyan told the Guardian. “There are Russian hooligans, of course, but I don’t think they are worse in Russia than elsewhere in central and eastern Europe.”
According to Petrosyan, who watched the Group B game inside the stadium, the British provoked the Russians by singing “rude songs” about Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This is while, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says what the Russian fans have done stigmatizes the country.
“It’s clear that some people didn’t come here to watch football. They’ve covered their faces and then brought shame on their country,” he said, adding the UEFA disciplinary case is just a “normal procedure.”
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