Police efforts in lead up to World Cup ‘wasted’ after drunken behaviour of England fans seen by Russian authorities

More than 100 fans were arrested before and after England's 1-0 win over the Dutch

Jack Austin
Tuesday 27 March 2018 12:32 BST
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Gareth Southgate disappointed over fan trouble as England win with 'pride' in Amsterdam

The efforts by England’s football police to keep fans safe in the lead up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia have been “wasted” after Russian officials witnessed the drunken behaviour of English fans the Amsterdam.

Drunk England fans were caught throwing beer over tourists on boats and dumping bikes in the river with more than 100 fans arrested, mainly for hitting police officers with bottles.

Most of the clashes took place in Amsterdam’s red light district after England’s 1-0 win over the Dutch on Friday night, with the FA to take action against any of the 5,234 official England Supporters Club ticket holders that travelled for the match.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has been working with Russian authorities to “influence” their dealings with English fans over the summer but they have now said that that work has been a waste of time.

“We have to reassure them,” deputy chief constable Mark Roberts told BBC Radio 5 Live. “When people behave as they did at the weekend, they not only put themselves at a greater risk, but also other genuine supporters, because it becomes harder for us to try and influence the policing styles.

“They've been engaging up until now in terms of understanding how best to deal with England supporters.

“When we're trying to persuade them that the majority of fans don't cause problems, scenes like that over the weekend really does make peoples' lives harder. I am concerned that all the efforts we've made to try and help the Russian authorities understand the difficult dynamics of England supporters have gone to waste.

“Countries look at how our supporters behave and think ‘why should we tolerate it?’. If the host country finds that behaviour offensive, they will deal with it as they would their own people.

“I don't think anyone would want to be serving time in a Russian prison labelled as an England football hooligan.”

Following unsavoury behaviour in games against Germany, where fans were singing songs about World War II, the Netherlands’ national anthem was booed in Amsterdam, something that England boss Gareth Southgate called “unacceptable”.

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