The UK government condemns the violence in Marseille and welcomes the UEFA decision to launch an investigation into the unrest.



A government spokesperson said:

The UK government is deeply concerned by the violence in Marseille , including reports that in some cases England fans were attacked by rival supporters. We condemn the violence and urge calm on all sides.

These incidents go directly against the spirit of the tournament and are the actions of a minority. The vast majority of fans in France simply want to enjoy the football.

So we welcome UEFA’s decision to launch an investigation into the violence inside the stadium in Marseille last night, and stand ready to assist in any way we can. We appreciate the Russian sports minister’s statement of support for the investigation.

We are in constant contact with the Euro 2016 organisers and the French authorities and have already provided public order support to the French security operation, including through the deployment of additional police to act as “spotters” in crowds and an enhanced Border Force presence at outbound ports.

We have offered to send further UK police to France ahead of the next England game to support the security operation around the match in Lens. And UK police will be assisting the French with their post-incident investigations and supporting them to gather evidence, including evidence against any England fans involved in the disorder.

The Home Secretary has spoken to her French counterpart, Bernard Cazeneuve, the Interior Minister, to continue to coordinate and work closely together on the response. And the Foreign Office has been in touch with the Russian authorities about our concerns.

The Foreign Office has additional staff in France and is providing consular assistance to a number of victims and their families. Six British nationals remain in hospital and several more have received treatment. We stand ready to provide further consular assistance as necessary.

Such comforting, well meaning words.

I see a Fleetwood Town banner in that picture. Maybe Southport should be grateful it doesn't have to contend with that element, albeit at the cost of having a rubbish team.

The behaviour we witnessed from a minority of England "fans" in Marseilles was simply an extension of what you will see in many of our town and city centres of an average weekend, albeit on a grander scale. The name of the game seems to be to get as paralytic as possible and then what follows has an air of inevitability about it. These people are simply exporting their abhorrent behaviour for the rest of the world to see and it reflects badly on the entire country.

The events inside the stadium were a different matter entirely. Those Russians weren't drunk. On the contrary, they were a well organised, tooled-up, nationalistic bunch of thugs who had planned this attack well in advance. They almost see themselves as an extension of the Russian armed forces defending their country's honour.

The next World Cup should be interesting.

Originally Posted by Albion102

I see a Fleetwood Town banner in that picture. Maybe Southport should be grateful it doesn't have to contend with that element, albeit at the cost of having a rubbish team.

Lincoln City (who didn't finish too far away from 'Port in the table) banner on the news footage over the weekend aswell.....so their is time yet for Sandy the Lion or Big Yellow Bird (God forbid!) to be papped throwing patio furniture about.