Fifa president Gianni Infantino says he is "not at all concerned" by the threat of hooliganism at next year's World Cup in Russia. What planet is this bloke on??? If you have any doubts about how dodgy this World Cup is going to be watch this programme - Russia's Hooligan Army, BBC 2, Thursday 16 February at 9.00pm
Stadium shellings, surface to air missiles, muggings and credit card fraud beyond belief makes it a destination for me. Please don't shatter my dream by telling me that it was a mistake made by dodgy accounting.
World war three when it kicks off. Just watched the Russian hooligans. There will be major firms out there wanting to get at them.
Perhaps they will just be Russian sympathisers and not supported by Putin at all, just like in the Ukraine.
We had the same in Ukraine. Sky Sports ran a documentary about how everyone wants to get the English, with loads of thugs from Kiev all hating on England, etc. In reality, it went off quite well. I do expect some violence in Russia, but nothing on the scale that people might suggest.
Think we can rely on the Russian Police to handle it well. Can't imagine Putin allowing the rest of the world to see the downside of his regime.
More likely he will manipulate the news so that it's everybody elses fault - and his hooligans are just good lads defending the motherland
Wouldn't surprise me at all to see the news manipulated. Did any of you see anything about violence after the Portugal v France Euro final this year? Well I was in Paris at the time and we ended up having to run down the Champs-Elysees, huge crowds of people sprinting and lobbing bottles. Ambulances everywhere by where we watched the game, with one person being stabbed. But I didn't see one thing on the news about it. The French guys we were with were fantastic. We were in a group of a few hundred, and even though we couldn't communicate very well, we managed to tell them we were Bristol City fans, and at one point we had a huge group of them chanting 'Allez Bristol!', which was class.
I think this is correct. With the amount of World attention and foreign press in attendance, 'news manipulation' would likely be beyond even the shady dealings of the Russian Government. I expect HEAVY policing - possibly even deals/agreements with local mob bosses/ultras leaders to ensure that negative action is kept under wraps (covering both hooliganism and protests against the government), at least until the competition is over.
Went over years back to watch England. It was moody in Moscow but not as bad as the tv would have you believe. Did see one big mob of Russians turn up in the main bar area Arabat street but unless you wanted to fight they left people alone. Night before the game City boys the CSF were shown around by Locomotive Moscow hooligans!!! Add the WC think the police will have Cities in lock down.
My issue is that the World Cup is supposed to bring the world together and all Russia and Qatar is doing is dividing the world. Nothing will change until the big nations start boycotting the international game. Then it will only be made up of the likes of England
I don't believe there will be any hooligan trouble at the Russian World Cup, so in that sense Infantino is probably quite right. Fact is, first sign of trouble and all the hooligans, plus their living relatives will be rounded up and shipped off to Siberia for a good, long holiday
