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French Ambassador Summoned To Foreign Ministry Over Detention Of Russian Fans

French ambassador to Russia Jean-Maurice Ripert "has been summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry over the detention of their supporters" following the violence which has marred the opening week of Euro 2016, according to Samuel Stevens of the London INDEPENDENT. A group of 29 Russian football fans "are being deported in relation to the clashes between England and Russia supporters." A statement said, "On June 15, French Ambassador to Moscow Jean-Maurice Ripert was summoned to the Russian Defence Ministry. He was notified of the protest in connection with yesterday's detention of a group of Russian fans who headed from Marseille to Lille for the next match of the Euro-2016 match with the Russian [football] team." The foreign ministry also noted that it "draws the attention of the French diplomat to discriminatory and non-selective nature of measures against Russian nationals as the Marseille prosecutor decided to detain for 48 hours all 43 people [heading to Lille on a bus], including three drivers, to conduct an investigation" (INDEPENDENT, 6/15). The AFP reported the Russian foreign ministry warned that "further stoking of anti-Russian sentiments ... could significantly aggravate the atmosphere in Russian-French relations." French police "swooped on a group of 43 Russian supporters near Marseille on Tuesday." Separately, Russian supporters "were among 10 people arrested before the country’s latest game in Lille on Wednesday." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "It was an absolutely unacceptable incident when a bus with more than 40 Russian fans was stopped by police." The minister said that French authorities "had failed to inform the Russian embassy" or the consulate in Marseille before intercepting the bus (AFP, 6/15).

UEFA Euro 2016 scores & schedule.
IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE: REUTERS' Osborn & Solovyov reported Lavrov told parliament on Wednesday that it was "impossible to ignore what he said were outrageous provocations" by English football fans. He said, "We cannot close our eyes to the absolutely provocative actions by supporters from other countries. You have probably seen the outrageous images on TV when the Russian flag is getting stamped on and when insults are being screamed about the Russian (political) leadership and about leading Russian sports people" (REUTERS, 6/15).

BRINGING IN REINFORCEMENTS: The BBC reported French authorities "are restricting the sale of alcohol and drafting in 4,000 extra police in Lille" ahead of England and Russia's next matches. Shops selling alcohol are closed until Friday, "while some 350 bars will shut early on Wednesday and Thursday." Nord-Pas-de-Calais Picardy region Prefect Michel Lalande said that the drinking ban "would cover some parts of central Lille and the stadium." However, the BBC's Geraint Owen in Lille said that small supermarkets "are still selling alcohol, which is being drunk openly on the streets." Vince Alm, of the Football Supporters' Federation Cymru, said that the ban is "not enforceable." Alm: "There are so many outlets around it's impossible" (BBC, 6/15).

MORE TROUBLE: In London, Ben Rumsby reported Russian hooligans "clashed with England and Wales fans" in Lille on Tuesday, hours after "their country moved to the brink of being expelled from the European Championship." Trouble flared between a "small number of fans from Britain and Russia" outside a bar in the center of the city, as hostilities between the two countries "resumed three days after their sickening confrontation in Marseille." The chair and bottle-throwing in Lille -- in which Wales fans "joined forces with their England counterparts against black T-shirted assailants -- did not appear enough to prompt further action" from UEFA, which had warned both the FA and Russian Football Union that "a repeat of Saturday’s violence could lead to both teams being expelled from the tournament" (TELEGRAPH, 6/15). REUTERS' Osborn reported in a separate piece Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Wednesday that he "could not rule out Russian football fans being involved in more violence" because they were "constantly being provoked." Mutko: "I do not have any certainty that disorder involving Russian fans will not be repeated. Our fans are constantly being provoked. And whatever happens it is immediately said that the Russians are guilty." Russian state TV on Wednesday broadcast what it said "was footage of an English football fan stamping on a Russian flag in Lille," part of what Russian officials say has been "a pattern of offensive provocations towards Russian supporters" (REUTERS, 6/15).

LATEST SCARE: The London DAILY MIRROR reported French police "closed off the media entrance to the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille" on Wednesday after "a suspect package was found." Russia and Slovakia played their Group B clash at the ground at 2pm, "but a number of reporters were prevented from entering." Some journalists "made it into the stadium, but local authorities then sealed off the entrance" (DAILY MIRROR, 6/15).

STRONG TURNOUT: The AP's Samantha Pell reported nearly 27,000 Icelanders "bought tickets to watch their national team play." That is more than 8% of the Nordic island’s population of about 331,000, "making Iceland the smallest country ever to compete in the Euros." Overall, 26,985 Icelandic fans had bought tickets for the tournament by the end of January, according to UEFA (AP, 6/14).

ON THE AIR: The issue of fan violence in several French cities at Euro Cup venues was examined on ESPN2’s “OTL” on Wednesday, with ESPN’s Bob Ley, who was reporting from France, noting “all the preparations that were made for this tournament -- security obsession concerns -- involved terrorism, certainly after the attacks of last November, what happened in Brussels in March and the cruel irony is that we’ve stepped back 20, 25 years to soccer hooliganism.” Ley said that Mutko “talked about the possibility of more violence because of provocateurs within the ranks of the English and that infamous tweet you referenced -- 'keep up the good work boys' -- is just an indication that you have a lot of different signals coming from the Russians." Ley said of whether these events could affect the Russians hosting the World Cup in ’18, "There is trepidation. Anytime any journalists, any organizers, anyone in the world of the football community you talk to about going to Russia in 2018 on top of what we have already seen in three or four short days with Russian fans here in what appears to be in many cases organized mayhem, a lot of uneasiness." Ley added, "You also have a new terror alert that went out through Belgium several hours ago warning everyone about the possibility of the conventional problem, if you will, of terrorist attacks" ("OTL," ESPN2, 6/15). 

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