No ‘blank cheques’ on safety of England fans travelling to World Cup
A SENIOR police officer told MPs he would not give “empty blank cheques” on the safety of England fans travelling to Russia for the World Cup.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the national policing lead for football, said Russian authorities were “committed” to staging a World Cup free of issues such as the violence that marred Euro 2016 in France.
MPs on the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee questioned the senior officer, a Football Association director and the head of a leading fans’ group, over a wide range of concerns including LGBT rights and the impact of the diplomatic row over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
Mr Roberts said: “We’ve had a great number of meetings with them and every time we’ve met them there is a consistent reassurance that their aspiration is to put on a safe event that shows Russia at the best of its ability.”
But Labour’s Chris Bryant said: “But Russia fans last time engaged in some of the worst violence, bullying, deliberate antagonism, provocation of supporters from other nationalities, and on top of that you have the aftereffects of the events in Salisbury.
“It just seems inconceivable, unless you can persuade me otherwise, that all those guarantees will be bankable.”
Mr Roberts said: “It’s not a case of me persuading you, it’s
a case of outlining we recognise the threats and we recognise the level of reassurance that we can give to supporters.
“So I’m not going to give empty blank cheques about everything will be fine.
“We will recognise the dangers, we will engage as much as we possibly can with the Russian authorities because we need to maintain a relationship if we are to have opportunity to influence their understanding of how British supporters behave and how best to deal with them.”
Mr Roberts said he believed the security services in Russia would act to stamp out disorder but warned fans to expect a “paramilitary” style of policing.
“The policing style is different from what you would experience in the UK – it tends to be a very much more public order, people in riot kit, more of a paramilitary approach than you would anticipate seeing in this country, but that’s not unique to Russia, that is something we see in many countries.” He said he was “acutely aware” of the violence in Marseille and praised the Russian police as “professional” for sharing information and trying to stop the disorder. The officer said the number of fans heading to Russia would be similar to the Euro 2012 tournament in Ukraine and Poland, which he estimated numbered 10,000, compared with the 500,000 estimated to have visited France for Euro 2016.
Asked about the use of football banning orders, Mr Roberts said they were “essential” for preventing trouble and there were 1,751 in place at the moment.
Football Association strategy and communications director Robert Sullivan, inset, who was also at the session, said the expulsion of a Foreign Office diplomat working on the World Cup plans had not affected preparations.
Football Supporters’ Federation chief executive Kevin Miles, who has visited Russia on numerous occasions to act as a fans liaison, said he was encouraged by the welcome English teams received at Champions League games this season.
He added that a guide which will be published today had three pages of tips for LGBT fans based on advice from British and Russian support groups.