Paris: Uefa on Sunday charged Russia over “totally unacceptable” fan clashes at a European Championship match with England but it also said there had been faults in security. French authorities said three people were in serious condition in the hospital.
Uefa has also warned England and Russia that they could be disqualified from the European Championship if there is further violence by their supporters.
European football’s governing body said Russian fans faced accusations of crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and setting off flares at the Stade Velodrome.
In chaotic scenes, Russian supporters appeared to charge into the English supporters’ section of the stadium after the 1-1 draw and fists were thrown.
The disturbances followed a day of pitched battles between fans in the centre of Marseille in the worst violence at an international tournament since the 1998 World Cup. One of the seriously injured was an England supporter who had initially been fighting for his life after apparently being hit on the head with an iron bar.
More than 30 other people had minor injuries. Fears of new violence ran high as Turkey prepared to face Croatia in Paris in a match on Sunday which organisers have also identified as high-risk.
“Uefa expresses its utter disgust for the violent clashes that occurred in the city centre of Marseille, and its serious concern for the incidents at the end of the match inside Stade Velodrome,” it said.
“This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has no place in football.”
Uefa said there were “issues” with the segregation at the stadium and it would strengthen the deployment of security personnel at future matches. Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said his country’s fans “behaved improperly” and conceded Uefa was likely to impose a fine. But he laid the blame on the match organisers for failing to separate supporters.
The violence in the stadium was limited compared to the scenes before the match when hundreds of fans who has been drinking heavily pelted each other with cafe chairs and bottles in the Vieux-Port area of Marseille.
