NEO-NAZIS OUT FOR SHAME GAME FAME
Far-right yobs wanted to get match stopped
BULGARIAN football players told England captain Harry Kane that the vile racist chanting which marred Monday night’s match between the nations was pre-planned.
According to reports, the neo-Nazi affiliated thugs who brought shame to their nation by making fascist salutes and monkey noises were desperate to gain notoriety.
The hooligans, from a 50-strong group called the Lauta Army, are believed to have set out to have the match stopped after England’s players had threatened before the game to abandon the pitch if they faced racist abuse.
Dressed in black “Hooligan from Sofia” sweatshirts, they call themselves The Usual Suspects and have been involved in football violence and racism for 25 years.
An unnamed player told Kane and his side that far-right extremists wanted to become BY JEREMY ARMSTRONG the talking point of the match in Sofia, which England won 6-0.
The Lauta Army follow Bulgarian top-flight side Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
They are so open about their fighting that they have their own Facebook page.
They were escorted into the England game by cops to avoid the fighting which they tried to organise before the game.
Then they were removed from the national stadium – which had 5000 empty seats because of previous racist chanting – having twice stopped the game.
They recently celebrated their 25th birthday with “their friends” from Napoli and Spartak Moscow, reflecting the rise of far-right groups across Europe.
England manager Gareth Southgate stressed that English football also had to tackle racism as part of an international response.
But anti-racism campaigners claimed their pleas to tackle hooliganism had fallen on deaf ears for years.
In the hours before the game, the Lauta Army posted a photo with the message: “In Sofia before Bulgaria-England after the arranged meeting with two English clubs didn’t happen as the English didn’t stick to the agreement and turned their phones off.
“Some English decided to fight between themselves.”
The message was alongside an image of bare-chested “fighters” arriving for games.
The Lauta Army’s banner was on show in front of a section of Bulgarian fans where the offensive chanting was identified by England players Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling.
On their Facebook page they have a post of Donald Trump wearing a Lauta Army jacket with the message: “We don’t like immigrants either.”
Pavel Klymenko, Eastern Europe development officer for Fare, an umbrella organisation that fights inequality in football, warned the leaflets handed out before the game by the Bulgarian FA “did nothing to change behaviour and tackle the problem of racism and discrimination by Bulgarian fans”.
He explained: “Bulgarian football has been infiltrated by far-right groups who use the stadiums to spread their message of hate.
“We have been trying to work with the Bulgarian FA to do more positive things but they are not interested. They have not even responded to our letters.”
England fans ran the gauntlet after the race hate outrage in the stadium.
Theo Ogden, an 18-year-old Bolton Wanderers fan from London, said: “As we walked into the dark streets away from the security of the stadium, we realised the Ultras were waiting for us.
“A group of them came close to us then more appeared and we realised they were trying to head us off and we braced ourself for a kicking – it was terrifying.” A police car appeared to prevent trouble.
Bulgaria coach Krasimir Balakov accused English football of having a bigger racism problem than his own country and played down the behaviour of their fans.
But anti-racism group Kick it Out said: “If Uefa cares at all about tackling discrimination, then points deductions and tournament expulsion must follow.”