Russian yobs set for dress rehearsal

HOOLIGANS UP FOR THE FIGHT

THE FOOTBALL world will spend the next fortnight holding its collective breath as Russia hosts the Confederations Cup.

It will be the ideal chance for Russia to prove it can stage a major football competition without random and senseless acts of violence taking place.

The odds on this happening are short, it has to be said, due to the simple and undeniable fact that Russia prides itself on hooliganism.

To those who willingly organise and take part in it, scrapping with rival fans is like a badge of honour.

This time 12 months ago Russian hooligans rampaged through the streets of France during Euro 2016.

Marseille bore the brunt of the violence, where Russian thugs hunted down and doled out brutal beatings to England counterparts.

No one was spared. Not even women or the poor and helpless handicapped person I saw get attacked in the immediate wake of England’s draw with Russia in the Orange Velodrome.

Their sickening work was videoed on mobile phones and posted online. How no one was killed is a minor miracle.

How Russia can be deemed fit to host the World Cup in under 12 months’ time beggars belief.

That’s because those who throw all the punches and stamp on heads are not the only ones guilty of making sure Russia’s image as one of the most flawed and corrupt on the planet is almost unrivalled.

Government ministers approve of violence and even encourage it, while a certain Alexei Smertin insists there is no such thing as racism in Russian football.

That’s the same Smertin who used to play for Chelsea and is now a World Cup ambassador given the task of rooting out racism, among other things.

Anti-racism campaigners reported a significant rise in abusive chanting in 2014-15 but figures for the seasons since have, er,