UEFA fines Russian Football Union over fans misconduct at Russia-England match
The UEFA also issued a provisional suspension for the Russian team, which means that the national squad would be disqualified from the major European football tournament in case of the recurrent instance of Russian fans" misbehavior.
The Russian Football Union (RFU) will not be filing an appeal against the decision passed by the Union of the European Football Associations (UEFA) in the wake of the Russian fans misconduct at the 2016 Euro Cup in France, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who heads the Russian Football Union, told TASS.
"A disciplinary decision has been made and we are waiting for an official notification," Mutko, who is also the sports minister of Russia, said in an interview with TASS. "We will be following the decision of UEFA and there must be no other stance of the RFU."
Altercations erupted between Russian and English fans ahead of the June 11th 2016 Euro Cup opening group stage match. Brawls began on Thursday in Marseille peaking at Saturday's match.
Law enforcement resorted to tear gas, smoke pellets and water cannons to disperse the brawlers.
In its kick off group stage match, team England took on the Russian national squad on Saturday, June 11, in Marseille at the Stade Velodrome. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has supported the decision to deport fans who have come for the Euro 2016 in France not just to watch football, TASS reports.
Earlier on Tuesday, local law enforcement officials stopped a bus near Cannes carrying 29 Russian football fans on the way to Lille to see their home team's second group stage match. Alexander Shprygin, the head of the Union of Russian Fans (URF), earlier said that the French authorities had planned to deport all of those detained.
"Please understand it right, we know that 29 people will be deported as they [fans] have arrived not to watch football. No one is planning to punish anyone illegally in any country of the world. Let's not whip up tensions, let's calm down, the European Championship is underway - it's a holiday of football, and we only speak about fighting and fines," Mutko told TASS.
