England fan vandalizes cherished statue in Moscow

Martin Rogers | USA TODAY

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MOSCOW — An England soccer fan was detained by police after being accused of desecrating a cherished Russian statue outside of Spartak Stadium before their team’s round of 16 penalty shootout victory over Colombia on Tuesday.

According to Russian outlet Championat.com, the fan was caught writing “England” across the statue in red paint.

The statue was created in the image of Fyodor Cherenkov, regarded as the best player in the history of successful Russian Premier League team Spartak Moscow. Photographs released on social media clearly showed the damage.

England fan detained after statue defaced outside #WorldCup stadium in Moscow – reports



⏩ https://t.co/EGNpqi6RHj ⏪ pic.twitter.com/F7NxSJe5Fa — RT (@RT_com) July 3, 2018

England supporters have traveled to the tournament in far fewer numbers than in the past, perhaps due to pre-tournament fears over clashes with Russian hooligans. There have been relatively few incidents, although social media videos did emerge earlier in the event of an England fan doing a Nazi salute.

After beating Colombia, England will now face Sweden in Saturday’s quarterfinal in Samara. A significant influx of fans is expect to enter the country, with even more to follow if the team reaches next week’s semifinal in Moscow.

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