Neo-nazi hooligans plan to make Brit rivals suffer
Ukrainian football hooligans have taken to the gym to prepare for any English troublemakers who travel to next month’s European championships in search of violence.
A man called Oleg, a member of a gang of neo-nazi hooligans called the Donetsk Company, explained how he had been bodybuilding in readiness for the tournament and added: ‘‘We’re not afraid of the English. Compared with them, we don’t drink or smoke. We are sportsmen . . . Your English fans from Tottenham and Fulham have been here before and we made them suffer.
‘‘The English won’t get the better of us because we will be prepared. We won’t allow anyone to abuse our Fatherland.’’
England will play two of their three group-stage matches in Donetsk, a city troubled by football hooliganism.
During a six-month investigation by Sky Sports, a clash between 25 rival fans in the city was caught on camera. The fight lasted less than a minute but left four men requiring hospital treatment.
Mobile phone salesman Marik, another member of the Donetsk Company, which models itself on the violent thugs who blighted English football in the 1970s and 1980s, warned black and Asian fans not to travel to the tournament.
‘‘I think that they should know that here in Ukraine and in Russia, football fans support the far-right movement.’’
Unemployed Tolik, 20, was recently elected leader of the Donetsk Company. During a meeting with investigators, he was secretly filmed apparently giving a Nazi salute. Recalling a clash with fans from Tottenham Hotspur in Donetsk, Tolik described the English club as ‘‘the Jews’’.
‘‘There was a fight. A big one and we won. There were 12 people from our group and 30 from their group.’’
The threat of violence, high prices and low expectations for the England team means that just 3500 fans are expected to travel to the tournament, which is being hosted jointly by Ukraine and Poland.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has warned people from ethnic or religious minorities travelling to both countries to take extra care.
At a recent conference, Donal Macintyre, the undercover television journalist who infiltrated Chelsea’s notorious Headhunters gang during the late-1990s, said: ‘‘There are big hooligan problems in Ukraine and Poland. They are a real interesting throwback to the 1970s.
‘‘Undoubtedly some mainstay guys will get out there and what happens is that ordinary guys will get sucked in through a combination of bravado, alcohol and sunshine.’’
Organisers believe that security arrangements, including 520 CCTV cameras and four battalions of riot police in the Donetsk stadium alone, will prevent violence between rival supporters.
Sergei Burglea, chief security officer at the Donbass arena, where England will meet France and Ukraine, said: ‘‘We don’t expect any special problems with English fans. On the contrary, we think that people will come here . . . to feel the festive mood at our stadium.’’