Euro 2016: 'The English were no angels, it was 50:50,' Russia striker Artem Dzyuba says of Marseille violence

Police intelligence suggests 300 Russian thugs launched a coordinated attack in Marseille

Artem Dzyuba, the Russia player, has defended his country's supporters (Getty)

The Russian striker Artem Dzyuba on Tuesday delivered an extraordinary interpretation of the violence that marred the weekend match against England, insisting after his nation had been placed on warning of exclusion from Euro 2016 that the degrees of blame in Marseille had been “50:50” and the English were no angels.

Uefa has handed down a suspended disqualification to Russia because of their fans’ conduct in southern France, where some chased the English out of the stadium. But Dzyuba accused the British media of reacting “like the British supporters are like angels and behaving themselves”. He smirked at coach Leonid Slutsky during a press conference at which Slutsky cited the booing of the Russian national anthem as evidence that the minority of English received what was coming to them on Saturday afternoon.

When The Independent put it to Dzyuba during the press conference that police intelligence officers say 300 Russian thugs launched a coordinated attack on the English in Marseille, the Zenit St Petersburg player retorted: “French authorities that gave you your information. I do have another information. The other thing is politics. We cannot say [someone] is wrong and [someone] is not wrong.”

Uefa has imposed a suspended disqualification of Slutsky’s side from Euro 2016 because of the Marseille “crowd disturbances” and imposed a heavy fine. With Russian sources expecting 20,000 fans to descend on Lille, including a hard core element of 150, the prospect of exclusion is genuine. Violence must occur within a stadium to trigger it. England fans have been advised to stay in the same northern French town because of an alcohol ban in Lens, where their nation face Wales on Thursday.

Though Dzyuba led the attack on England conduct, Slutsky interrupted him to say: “When the Russian anthem was played people were shouting. That was not ethical at all – and the gestures we have received from English supporters. There are some people who come to see a game and some who come to behave as bad as possible.” Slutsky said the team would not be expelled and there would be “no injustice”.

Dzyuba added: “I don’t understand the reaction of this British media…like the British supporters are like angels and behaving themselves. It was 50:50. There are two parts to every conflict. Everyone has to communicate. I don’t say that only Russians are the faulty ones.”

The Zenit St Petersburg striker claimed he had seen only “fragments” of the video footage which shows Russians attacking English, having arrived tooled up, according to police. “We do not know what happened in the streets,” the 27-year-old Muscovite said. He suggested the level of criticism of Russian fans in the British media formed part of a political conspiracy, adding: “We can see things that British media are talking about 2018 and people saying they must take it out of Russia. I have these thoughts that must come up sometimes.”

French authorities have begun the process of deporting Russian fans from the country, having identified 29 people who were involved in the clashes. Police stopped a bus in the town of Mandelieu near Cannes, whose occupants were on their way to Lille.

Dzyuba did tell Russian fans that letting off flares, as they did on Saturday, was wrong. “We don’t want to be disqualified from Euro 2016 because of this situation. We understand things can happen. These pyrotechnics are not good things to use. Our supporters have to focus.”

The only positive comment for England came when Slutsky suggested they were favourites for the group which sees Russia play Slovakia on Wednesday night before England and Wales meet in Lens, half an hour’s drive from here, on Thursday. “The English team is best in our group and against the others we must just perform,” he said.

Russian authorities provided French police with the names of only 33 potential hooligans before Euro 2016 and have sent a mere six officers to the tournament to help police it, according to sources in France. Le Figaro revealed that the Croatian Ministry of Interior, by comparison, provided a list of 326 potentially dangerous hooligans to the French. The head of the national police counter-hooliganism division (DNLH) Antoine Boutonnet told Le Figaro: “There are foreign authorities who refuse to deliver.”

Bars in Lens have been told they may sell beer that is less than five per cent alcohol ahead of Thursday’s England game. Supermarkets will be banned from selling any alcohol from 6am Wednesday to 6am Friday, petrol stations on the 20-mile route from Lens to Lille face the same alcohol ban. Alcohol will also not be available on trains for the 40-minute journey from Lille to Lens.