UEFA Euro 2016 riots

The UEFA Euro 2016 football championships in France saw several recorded instances of football hooliganism and related violence between fans, both at the venues where matches took place, and in cities near the participating stadiums. Both the organisers and government officials in several countries condemned all violence, and recommended various sanctions up to and including potential disqualification from the tournament and a ban on alcohol.

Events

Marseille

On 10 June, English fans at Marseille clashed with police, who used tear gas to break up the crowd. One fan and one local man were arrested. Fans later complained that the police were unnecessarily confrontational, and provoked further problems. Six English fans were later arrested and charged with throwing bottles at the police or other fans. One English fan was reported to be critically ill in hospital, while dozens of others were injured in the clashes. England striker Jamie Vardy's wife Rebekah was hit by tear gas during the disruption. The first two England fans tried for throwing bottles at police were each given a three-month prison sentence and a two-year ban from France.

On 11 June, English and Russian fans clashed during the day before that evening's game between the two teams. The violence saw one England supporter, Andrew Bache, hospitalised after suffering brain injuries and a cardiac arrest during an assault by a group of Russian fans allegedly armed with iron bars. The police again used tear gas and a water cannon to control crowds. Immediately after the match, which ended in a 1–1 draw, around 150 Russian fans at the Stade Vélodrome charged towards England supporters in a neighbouring terrace. It was reported that the Russian fans set off flares and climbed over fencing to attack the opposing supporters. Two Russian supporters were also arrested over a pitch invasion during the game.

Video footage was later released showing the Russian "ultras" attacking English fans with chairs and metal bars. The chief prosecutor in Marseille called the group "hyper-rapid and hyper-violent".

Lille

"The whole thing is a disaster waiting to happen. It's like a massive tinder box waiting to go off any minute"

Fan response to the atmosphere at Euro 2016

On 12 June, German and Ukrainian fans clashed in Lille, with further violence and street battles. UEFA later said they had "serious concerns" over security in the city. An additional 4,000 police were drafted in by 15 June, in preparation for matches featuring Russia and England (the latter in nearby Lens). A minor scuffle between English and Russian fans broke out in the city centre around midnight. Four Russian fans were later arrested, with French police planning to deport them.

Russian and English fans clashed again the following day, requiring the police to use tear gas to break up crowds following Russia's game against Slovakia in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Fans were herded by riot police away from the main square, and the atmosphere calmed.

At least 36 people were arrested following brawling between England and Russia fans in Lille city centre on 15 June; a total of 16 people were hospitalised. French riot police used tear gas and charged at hundreds of England fans, as flares were set off.

Nice

On 12 June, violence broke out between French hooligans and Northern Irish supporters, who had been drinking amicably with their Polish counterparts in Nice, ahead of a match of Northern Ireland against Poland. News reports later showed the attack had been provoked by the French "Ultras". Six Northern Irish and a Polish supporter were injured, one of them seriously.

Cologne

On the evening of 16 June, Russian hooligans attacked three Spanish tourists in the German city of Cologne. The attack was apparently sparked when the Spaniards, two men and one woman, put stickers with anti-fascist slogans on a lamppost. According to the police, the group of Russians belonged to the right-wing scene. In their possession, authorities found tickets to the Euro 2016 games of the Russian team against England and Slovakia as well as mummery equipment such as masks. Six attackers were put into custody, five of them immediately after the attack and one at the airport.

Saint-Étienne

On June 17, in the 86th minute of the Czech Republic vs. Croatia match, Croatian fans threw percussion bombs and flares onto the pitch, where referee Mark Clattenburg halted the match over security concerns. Croatian fans also ensued in fighting amongst themselves. A steward was struck with a firecracker after a Croatian fan threw it onto the field and Croatian football player, Ivan Perišić was nearly struck when a flare flew in his direction. Croatian players tried to calm the crowd with no avail. Clattenburg then moved every player into the center of the field to avoid possible injury. The match resumed after five minutes, with the match ending in a tie. UEFA is currently investigating the situation soon after a match report is completed. During the match between Czech Republic and Croatia on 17 June, several Croatia football supporters threw flares onto the pitch; one steward was wounded. There was also a fight between Czech and Croatian supporters. In the 86th minute of the match, Croatian fans threw percussion bombs and flares onto the pitch, where referee Mark Clattenburg halted the match over security concerns. Croatian fans also ensued in fighting amongst themselves. A steward was struck with a firecracker after a Croatian fan threw it onto the field and Croatian football player, Ivan Perišić was nearly struck when a flare flew in his direction. Croatian players tried to calm the crowd with no avail. Clattenburg then moved every player into the center of the field to avoid possible injury. The match resumed after five minutes, with the match ending in a tie. UEFA is currently investigating the situation soon after a match report is completed.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the violence, both the English and Russian national teams were threatened with disqualification by the competition organiser UEFA if violence by their supporters continued.

On 13 June, French Minister of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve, asked all participating cities in the tournament to ban the sale of alcohol on both match days and the day before them. He also recommended a ban on selling any containers that could be used as missiles. There were later complaints that since the ban did not cover off-licence sale of drinks, it was de facto unenforceable.

On 14 June, the Russian team were given a suspended disqualification and fined €150,000 with a strict warning that they would be removed from the tournament if any further violence occurred. Fifty Russian fans were deported. The sentence could only relate to events inside the stadium as that is all UEFA is responsible for. England were also warned about disqualification, but were not formally charged.

Government responses

The British Shadow Home Secretary, Andy Burnham, condemned the violence, claiming most had been "let down by a minority".

Russian coach Leonid Slutsky did not challenge the disqualification or fine, saying he was confident that no further violence would occur. Igor Vladimirovich Lebedev, MP from the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, is reported to have said: "I don't see anything terrible about fans fighting ... Keep it up!", laying blame at the lack of organisation and policing instead of the fans. President Vladimir Putin condemned the violence and disagreed strongly with some reports showing Russian officials appearing to support it. The French police identified a gang of 150 well-trained Russian football hooligans causing the violence and disorder.

At an official press conference on 14 June, Russian striker Artem Dzyuba argued that the degree of blame in Marseille had been "50:50", accusing the British media of reacting “like the British supporters are like angels and behaving themselves”. When informed that police intelligence officers had accused 300 Russian thugs of launching a coordinated attack on the English, Dzyuba replied: "French authorities that gave you your information. I do have another information. The other thing is politics. We cannot say [someone] is wrong and [someone] is not wrong". Slutsky also mentioned "all the gestures we received when we were on our bus on the way to the stadium from all these English supporters".

In response to the sanctions levelled against Russia, the French ambassador was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry to answer questions about the treatment of Russian supporters. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov strongly criticised the police over the deportation orders, particularly an incident where fans were ordered to leave a bus for identity checks. He believed such an action violated the rules of the Vienna Convention.

Media reports

Seven Russian media outlets, including RIA Novosti, quoted statements by fake Twitter journalists as evidence of English fans "provoking" Russian supporters.

A BBC report described some of the Russian fans involved in the violence as emulating English football hooliganism of the 1970s and 1980s. It claimed they considered themselves athletes, and were generally fitter than English counterparts.