YP Comment: Football violence - Shameful scenes at Euro 2016

THE sight of English fans fleeing the stands shortly after the final whistle of their team's Euro 2016 match against Russia as balaclava-clad thugs punched through a line of stewards before attacking bystanders, was as shocking as it was deplorable.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Jun 2016, 01:00 BST
Updated 13th Jun 2016, 12:18 BST
Spectators try to escape from the stands as clashes break out at the end of the Euro 2016 Group B match between England and Russia, at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille. (PA).Spectators try to escape from the stands as clashes break out at the end of the Euro 2016 Group B match between England and Russia, at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille. (PA).
Spectators try to escape from the stands as clashes break out at the end of the Euro 2016 Group B match between England and Russia, at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille. (PA).

For those who naively believed that football hooliganism was a thing of the past, the terrible scenes of violence in Marseilles on Saturday night exposed this as nothing but wishful thinking. For this was not an isolated incident, with violence having broken out between England fans, rival supporters and police for the last three days in the port city.

Grim footage showed fans from Russia and England marauding through the streets, with people being punched and kicked as they lay on the floor as the police struggled to contain the violence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Uefa, the European football body, has acted quickly by opening disciplinary proceedings against Russia and has threatened to disqualify both them and England from the tournament if there is any further violence by fans.

But there are questions, too, for Uefa and the French authorities at a time when the country is on high alert after November’s terrorist attacks on Paris - namely, why was there such inadequate policing inside the stadium, and how were supporters able to bring flares into the stadium undetected?

Euro 2016 was supposed to be an opportunity for the footballing community to come together and celebrate the healing power of sport. Instead, less than 48 hours into the tournament these hopes lie in tatters. And they call this the “beautiful game”?

Benn’s warning - Out Campaign gains traction

BACK in December, Hilary Benn stood up in Parliament and made such a persuasive case for military intervention in Syria that he was lauded as having made one of the greatest speeches ever made in the House of Commons.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Remain campaign will be hoping that his speech today, in which he will outline why he believes Britain would have a brighter future by staying inside the EU, strikes a similar chord with the British public. The Leeds Central MP’s intervention is part of a determined effort by the Remain camp to raise the profile of Labour figures in the campaign and comes just days after Andy Burnham, the Shadow Home Secretary, criticised the Labour Party hierarchy of not doing enough to convince its core supporters to come out and vote on June 23.

Mr Benn’s warning that the “Brexit train is threatening to pull away from the station” is no doubt designed to concentrate minds. For we are fast approaching the final straight.

Related topics:RussiaUEFAEnglandParis