England and Russia have been warned by UEFA that more fan disorder could see them expelled from Euro 2016 and Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn is treating the threat with the “utmost seriousness”.
Ugly clashes in Marseille marred the build-up to Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated Group B clash, with English, Russian and French fans involved in trouble over three days.
Trouble in the Old Port area continued inside the Stade Velodrome and a number of supporters were left injured as a result of the incidents, with one England fan in a critical condition in hospital.
UEFA was swift to open disciplinary proceedings against the Football Union of Russia for alleged crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and the setting off of fireworks towards the end of the game.
England avoided any charge but the executive committee of European football’s governing body has warned it is ready to impose the ultimate sanction if similar trouble rears its head again.
“The UEFA executive committee would like to express its disgust for the violent clashes which occurred in the city of Marseille,” a UEFA statement read.
“Such unacceptable behaviour by so-called supporters of the national teams of England and Russia has no place in football, a sport we must protect and defend.
“The UEFA executive committee has warned both football associations that irrespective of any decisions taken by the independent disciplinary bodies relating to incidents inside the stadium – 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.
“We urge both the FA and the RFU to appeal to their supporters to behave in a responsible and respectful manner.
“We would also like to publicly voice our support for the work of the French authorities and security forces for their efforts to deliver a safe and secure tournament in challenging circumstances.”
Glenn said in a statement the FA had taken heed of the governing body’s warning.
“We take this letter from UEFA with the utmost seriousness,” he said.
“We understand the potential implications of our supporters’ actions and wholly accept that every effort needs to be made by The FA to positively urge them to act in a responsible and respectful way.
“Violent scenes like those witnessed over the weekend in Marseille have no place in football, nor society as a whole.
“We want people – fans and locals – to feel safe and enjoy a festival atmosphere at the Euros and we will continue to work closely with all the relevant authorities to achieve that.”
