Russian football hooligans pose a risk to World Cup visitors despite efforts of local law

WHILE the stadiums in Russia are on track to be ready for next year’s World Cup, major concerns remain over the country’s notorious football hooligans.

WHILE the stadiums in Russia are on track to be ready for next year’s World Cup, major concerns remain over the country’s football hooligans and incidents of racism from crowds that have marred club matches in the country.

The World Cup draw takes place in Moscow early Saturday (AEDT) and officials will be anxious to see which countries are grouped with the hosts.

While it would be a dream scenario for Australia to be drawn with Russia, it would be a nightmare for England such is the hatred between the two countries’ fans.

Russia hosted the Confederations Cup in the middle of the year and the tournament was generally incident-free, but Russian hooligans made headlines at Euro 2016 when they clashed with England fans in Marseille, leaving at least 35 people badly injured. It was a bloody and ugly incident, but in Russia there has been a noticeable decline — at least publicly — in violent clashes.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has cracked down on Russia’s hooligans — most notorious in Moscow and divided into the Union and RB Warriors groups — by banning at least 300 people from far right extremist groups from attending the World Cup.

Officials also introduced a new fan identification system that worked to good effect at the Confederations Cup. It identifies every fan and is required, along with a match day ticket, to gain entry into stadiums.

From Father to Son (Kuban Krasnodar) #ultras #russia pic.twitter.com/3e9LFX3xXB

— Fanatics of Football (@footynews129) November 28, 2017

CSKA Moscow at Arsenal Tula (2) #ultras #russia pic.twitter.com/kPwMFqoqWI

— Fanatics of Football (@footynews129) October 30, 2017

But there have still been racist incidents inside stadiums. In October, Spartak Moscow were punished by UEFA for monkey chants in a youth league match against Liverpool and Spartak were also fined for discriminatory chants made against fans from Russia’s North Caucasus.

In order to crack down on such incidents during the World Cup, anti-discrimination observers will be deployed and matches will be stopped or abandoned if racism persists after warnings inside the stadium.

World Cup matches will take place in 12 stadiums across host cities Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Saransk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Vogograd, Rostov-on-Don, Ekaterinburg and Sochi.

The World Cup’s showpiece arena, Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, will host the opening match featuring Russia and has undergone a grand redevelopment.

WORLD CUP HOST CITIES AND STADIUMS

MOSCOW — Russian capital and most populous city with 13.2 million residents

Luzhniki Stadium, 81,000 capacity

Spartak Stadium, 42,000 capacity. Completed.

SAINT PETERSBURG — Russia’s second-largest city with five million inhabitants

Saint Petersburg Stadium, 68,000 capacity. Completed.

SOCHI — located on the Black Sea and known as a summer beach resort

Fisht Stadium, 47,700 capacity. Completed.

EKATERINBURG — east of the Ural Mountains and known for the golden-domed Church on the Blood

Ekaterinburg Arena, 45,000 capacity

KAZAN — on the banks of the Volga and Kazanka rivers

Kazan Arena, 45,000 capacity. Completed.

NIZHNY NOVGOROD — also known as Gorky after writer Maxim Gorky who was born there

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, 45,000 capacity

ROSTOV-ON-DON — in southern Russia on the Don River

Rostov Arena, 45,000 capacity

SAMARA — sixth largest city in Russia and the administrative centre of Samara Oblast

Samara Arena, 45,000 capacity

SARANSK — capital city of the Republic of Mordovia

Mordovia Arena, 45,000 capacity

VOLGOGRAD — formerly Stalingrad, on the banks of the Volga River

Vogograd Stadium, 45,000 capacity

KALININGRAD — sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania along the Baltic Coast

Kaliningrad Stadium, 35,212 capacity

Originally published as Russian football hooligans pose a risk to World Cup visitors despite efforts of local law