Warning to protect fans

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has issued a warning to Russia that it has a duty to ensure England fans travelling to the World Cup are properly protected.

Giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Johnson compared Russia’s hosting of the tournament to Hitler’s notorious Berlin Olympics in 1936, describing it as an “emetic prospect”.

Following the plunge in diplomatic relations in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, Mr Johnson said he was “deeply concerned” as to how travelling England fans would be treated.

While the Foreign Office has so far stopped short of advising fans not to go to the tournament starting in June, he said they were monitoring the situation “very, very closely”.

“It is up to the Russians to guarantee the safety of England fans going to Russia. It is their duty under their Fifa contract to look after our fans,” he said.

Even before events in Salisbury, there were concerns that England fans could be targeted by violent Russian gangs.

Mr Johnson said the UK authorities had been cooperating with Russians at a “policing level” but there were now questions as to how that would continue.