E-Paper
No end to trouble, Hungary fans fight with police before game
PARIS: Hungarian fans and police forces scuffled in Marseille’s stadium on Saturday ahead of a Euro 2016 Iceland v Hungary match.
PARIS: Hungarian fans and police forces scuffled in Marseille’s stadium on Saturday ahead of a Euro 2016 Iceland v Hungary match.
A Reuters witness saw police officers enter the stands in the Stade Velodrome.
Euro 2016 has been marred by violence, especially in Marseille last weekend when Russian fans confronted English supporters before, during and after the Russia v England game.
CROATIA FACE HEAVY FINE FOR TROUBLE
After Croatia were once more the focus of racist behaviour and fan disorder, Uefa formally opened a disciplinary case against the country’s national soccer federation on Saturday.
The federation apologised for the incidents during Croatia’s 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic on Friday, while also blaming their national government for not identifying and punishing hooligans in recent years.
“The Saint-Etienne incident is the product of the passivity of the Croatian state, and today we have all become hostages of a group of hooligans,” the Croatian federation said in a statement.
Play was stopped for several minutes late in the match when firecrackers and lit flares were thrown on the field from one end of the stadium where Croatia fans were sitting.
Croatia fans then fought among themselves as players appealed for calm.
Uefa’s anti-discrimination monitors said on Saturday they also reported hearing fans singing far-right songs and displaying offensive banners at the stadium.
Uefa said the charges against Croatia related to racist behaviour, crowd disturbances, throwing objects on the field and setting off fireworks.
The Croatian federation faces at least a five-figure fine when Uefa’s disciplinary panel judges the case on Monday. It is the second round of charges involving Croatia fans in France. Uefa charged the federation over flares being lit and a fan running on the field to celebrate a goal with Croatia players in a 1-0 win over Turkey last Sunday.
