The far-right leader of Russia’s football fan union is one of 20 men being deported from France for their role in the violence during the first week of the European Championships 2016.
Alexander Shprygin, the leader of Kremlin-backed All Russian Supporters, is one of a group detained on Tuesday while travelling on a bus.
He has been reported to have far-right political views and has been pictured giving the Nazi salute, according to The Guardian.
On Thursday, a statement on the fan group’s website said the men will be forced to leave within days.
“Twenty people were later released and twenty others, including URF head Alexander Shprygin, were taken to a deportation centre from where they will be expelled from France within five days,” it said.
“France’s authorities said they have taken this decision due to security considerations as they see a potential threat in these people. No other reasons have been provided.”
Stephane Bouillon, prefect for the region that includes the southern French city of Marseilles where the worst outbreak of violence took place, said the men will be deported Monday and are currently being held in detention.
They are suspected of “participation in skirmishes linked to the England-Russia game on June 11 in Marseilles,” she said.
UEFA has already told Russian soccer authorities that their team could be kicked out of euro 2016 if there’s a repeat of the violence that surrounded its match last Saturday against England. Of particular concern to Europe’s governing body is that Russian fans stormed a section of English fans inside the stadium.
English soccer’s governing body has also been warned about the behavior of its fans but the team’s participation in the competition was not under immediate threat on Thursday despite a fresh outbreak of fan violence in France that required riot police to deploy tear gas.
Though English fans in Lille were involved in further unrest Wednesday night at Euro 2016, UEFA has said there are no plans for an emergency meeting of its executive committee to discuss any further warning or sanctions against the English Football Association.
Earlier this week, UEFA’s leadership ruled that England — along with Russia — faced potential disqualification if there was a repeat of the violence that surrounded their match in Marseilles.
This article was originally published on news.com.au
