Families tell of ambush as yobs rampage in stadium
ENGLISH football fans told of their terror yesterday after they were forced to flee from charging masked Russian hooligans inside the stadium after England’s opening match in Euro 2016.
Rampaging Russian thugs made a mockery of security in Marseille by smuggling heavy-duty fireworks containing explosives into the Stade Vélodrome.
Towards the end of the 1-1 draw between the two countries they set off smoke bombs and sent a green rocket and a red flare into the air. All had been smuggled in despite the supposed high level of antiterror security at the tournament.
Minutes later after the final whistle the Russians mounted a terrifying charge causing mass panic among supporters.
The storming of the England section was the culmination of an appalling weekend of violence which started with ugly scenes in the centre of the southern French port city involving Russian and English supporters along with local French troublemakers. With England and Russia fans due to meet again in northern France later this week:
England and Russia were both threatened with expulsion from the tournament unless they rein in warring fans;
An English boy of 16 was among those held by French police;
Downing Street announced dozens of extra British police are being sent to target English hooligans;
A 51-year-old England fan remained ‘gravely ill’ after his heart stopped when he was battered by Russian thugs;
Local politicians demanded Britain pay to clean up the ‘war zone’;
A Russian football chief claimed England started the violence and Russia’s fans were ‘protecting the homeland’.
At the Stade Vélodrome on Saturday night desperate parents scooped up their children and ran, or formed protective huddles, as a vicious mob of wellbuilt Russians – wearing gum shields and martial arts gloves – swarmed into the England section throwing punches and kicks. Dozens of England fans including a blonde woman hurled themselves over a fence to safety despite a 10ft drop on the other side.
Others were crushed against the fence in the panic to get away in a chilling echo of stadium disasters such as Heysel and Hillsborough.
Jamie Gibson, 13, from Durham, was trapped as the Russian mob stormed through the stadium. He said: ‘It was definitely pre-planned and completely unprovoked. The England supporters tried to get to the exit but other Russians blocked them off. It was an ambush.’
Jamie’s father Lee, 41, said: ‘All the way to the ground there were police everywhere, and we were being randomly teargassed for no reason. But when we got to the ground, there were no police at all. It was shocking.’ Only a threadbare line of unarmed stewards stood between marauding Russian fans and families seated on the other side.
Some Russian thugs were masquerading as England fans by wearing England shirts. But mostly the attackers were clad in black T-shirts bearing the names and logos of notorious hooligan ‘firms’ known as Ultras from the Spartak and Lokomotiv Moscow clubs.
Incredibly Igor Lebedev, a committee member of the Russian equivalent of the Football Association, claimed it was ‘normal’ for fans to fight and said: ‘The boys protected the honour of the country and did not give the English a chance to abuse our motherland. Our fans must be understood and forgiven.’
The lack of adequate security inside the stadium was all the more startling given there had been three days of violence outside it. But Marseille’s police chief Laurent Nunez said measures were ‘sufficient and proportionate to the risk’.
Four hours before the game 30 masked Russians stormed England supporters drinking outside bars in a square at the port in Marseille.
A 51-year-old England fan was savagely
‘There were no police at all’
beaten by a Russian hooligan wielding what some described as a ‘mini-axe’. Police performed CPR to re-start his heart and last night he was said to be ‘gravely ill’ in hospital.
Fourteen England fans were hospitalised and six were still being treated last night after clashes across Marseille on Saturday.
There were calls for Britain to pay for the clean-up. Socialist politician Patrick Mennucci, 61, said: ‘It should not be the people of Marseille who have to pay.’
England and Russia fans are now heading to northern France for their second games of the tournament, in Lille and Lens, triggering a security nightmare.
But England could be disqualified from Euro 2016 if there is a repeat of the Marseille violence, Uefa has warned.
It has already opened disciplinary proceedings against the Russian Football Union over the stadium violence.