Kremlin - UK assertion we sanctioned Euro 2016 fan violence is hysteria: Ifax

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Sunday rejected a suggestion by senior British government officials it may have deliberately sanctioned violence by Russian football hooligans at the Euro 2016 tournament in France as anti-Russian hysteria.

Kremlin - UK assertion we sanctioned Euro 2016 fan violence is hysteria: Ifax

(Reuters)





It spoke out after Britain's Observer newspaper published a report citing the unnamed British officials as saying they suspected the Kremlin may have links to the Russian hooligans who attacked England supporters in Marseille.

The clashes marred the start of the tournament and prompted the French authorities to deport some Russian supporters.

The British officials were quoted as saying that many of the Russian hooligans were in the uniformed services and that their actions looked like a continuation of President Vladimir Putin's 'hybrid warfare' against the West. [http://bit.ly/21sHJsYr]

"This is yet another example ... of anti-Russian hysteria," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax news agency.

Putin, speaking at a question and answer session at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, said he wondered how "200 of our fans beat up several thousand English fans."





(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Osborn)


Share
1 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world