Vitaly Mutko says trouble at England game was unacceptable, but does not affect Russia’s suitability to host 2018 World Cup

The Russian sports minister has said some of its football fans had brought shame on the country, but that Saturday’s violence in Marseille before and after the match with England had nothing to do with its suitability to host the 2018 World Cup.

Uefa told both Russia and England fans on Sunday afternoon that their teams could be thrown out of Euro 2016.

Earlier in the day, it had announced that it would open a disciplinary case against Russian fans over crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and fireworks being set off. It expressed “utter disgust” at the violent scenes that followed the final whistle.

England has escaped a similar hearing because the clashes in which England fans appeared to have some blame mainly took place outside the stadium.

When asked about the implications for 2018 as he left the stadium after the game, Vitaly Mutko said: “What’s the 2018 World Cup got to do with it?”



Mutko, who was on the pitch after the final whistlewaving at Russian fans close to where the clashes were taking place, initially said the trouble had been exaggerated, and even claimed “there was no clash ... in fact everything is fine here”.



Later, however, he appeared to admit that the scenes were unacceptable and said it was a “normal procedure” for Uefa to open disciplinary hearings. “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.

Immediately before the game, the Russian response played down the clashes in Marseille and pinned the blame on the England fans. State television reported that drunken England fans had attacked their Russian counterparts, but had then been forced to flee after the Russians fought back. Others admitted there was a problem with Russian fans, but believed England fans had provoked them.

“There are Russian hooligans, of course, but I don’t think they are worse in Russia than elsewhere in central and eastern Europe,” said the Russian sports journalist Artur Petrosyan, who was at the game. He said he had arrived in Marseille on Wednesday when there were thousands of England fans in town but few Russians, and saw clashes between England fans and locals, suggesting it was England fans who initiated the atmosphere of violence.

“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,” he said. Uefa has said it can only apply sanctions for events which take place inside the stadium.

England fans were singing “rude songs” about the tennis player Maria Sharapova and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Petrosyan, which riled the Russia fans.

Russian viewers were also surprised by the lack of proper segregation at the stadium. Russian football games are heavily policed, and cordons of stewards and riot police are usually present in high-risk matches.



There were a number of incidents at Euro 2012 involving Russian fans, including an assault on stadium staff at one match, and the racial abuse of the Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie.



Uefa gave Russia a deferred punishment of having to play three Euro 2016 qualifiers behind closed doors, to be activated if trouble occurred during the qualifying games. This did not happen, however, and Saturday’s violence was the first serious trouble involving Russia fans since the 2012 tournament.



In the first instance, Russian officials will be hoping there is not a repeat of the violence in later games. Russia and England’s next games are in Lille and Lens respectively, two cities that are very close to each other, raising the possibility of repeat clashes. The small possibility of a last 16 clash with Ukraine would also be a potential nightmare for tournament organisers.

The Russian football association released a statement on Sunday telling fans that further violence could lead to sanctions and called on them to “show respect to our opponents and their supporters”.

Russian sport is already undergoing a difficult period, with a number of scandals centred around doping and uncertainty about whether the athletics team will be banned from the Rio Olympics.

A decision is due this week, while a new German documentary has made allegations that Mutko was personally involved in covering up doping. Russia has often claimed that allegations of doping, corruption and other sporting malpractice are part of an “information war” by the west against them, and may take a similar line if punished harshly for the violence in Marseille.

Two years before the World Cup, fan groups have already expressed worries about potential racism against players and supporters, a problem that Russian authorities have repeatedly denied or played down. That will now be augmented by fears of hooliganism.



Many Russian ultras idolise the gang culture of 1970s English clubs, and some domestic fixtures are often accompanied by violence, although the kind of scenes witnessed in Marseille on Saturday are rare.

