Let me tell from Russia (with love) my arrogant opinion. I'm sure that there will be no huge violence during World Cup (things like it was in France-2016 are impossible here), but preventive measures are pretty possible (mass arests and deportations). Who wants to become a criminal adventurer? - It's possible too (actually like in every country). We'll see.
I agree with Rock n Roll.....the whole world will be watching, do you think Putin will want the tournament tarnishing because of the behavior of Russian Ultras, they may well be a couple of incidents, difficult to stop everything but the policing will be OTT imho.
Like the England fan from Stoke who was beaten to a pulp by a gang of Russians with iron bars in France last summer ?
Yes. The England fans broke a few bottles throughout he day so he completely deserved what he got. No sympathy whatsoever. In fact I enjoyed it. Vive le soviétique.
I think unfortunately after France it's a forgone conclusion. Every country has it's element of hooligans, that's for sure. The Russian hooligans in France seemed organised with military like precision. There was a documtary on TV here in the UK on Russian hooligans - they went out to Russia to meet them and interviewed some, it seems they were focusing on preparing for battles at the World Cup finals. This isn't to tarnish all Russian fans - it's a very small minority. You could even question whether they are actually football fans at all.
Agreed. There are some hooligans in every country. No questions, we are not discussing their motivation, they want to fight and risk their lifes and freedom. No one cares really what do they want to achieve if it's dangerous for peaceful fans, do they love football or not, who cares? There are 900 thousands of policemens in Russia (army and other special forces are not included). So...someone can protest, get drunk as hell, try to walk naked and fight with random people on the streets...i'm not sure how and what exactly they can try to do, but it will be stopped immediately in really really bad and harsh way. That's why massive violence is impossible. I'm really sorry if someone waits for something except football. It will be a huge disappointment for such people. There is no democracy (in french way) in Russia.
I see very little wrong with our England away support. Over 5K there and only 25 arrests. High spirits on a night out in the Dam, they'll get worse from stag nights, let's keep a sense of proportion here we've all seen worse, Russia could be another level though.
Violence or no violence, the world cup will be deemed a success for Russia because no one knows what to expect. Or what is going on. We had organised Russian hooligans in France attacking people. This was 4 years before Russia themselves were due to hold the world cup. Was this a sponsored event to show Russians in a bad light before they appear on the world stage in a good light (the only way is up?) and to then show the world what happened in 2014 was fake news? Scare stories have gotten out that in 2018 fans could be coming home in body bags. Russian authorities state this will be a peaceful world cup, as they would. Nobody knows though. Due to recent events (and what about the timing of that...), the government has stopped ministers and the royals attending in response and also has worries about the team and fans' safety at the world cup. But the England manager himself has stated there's nothing to be concerned about and is sure all will be ok. Some England fans wouldn't go if you paid them. Some are going whatever. Everyone is confused because nobody knows what's going on. And this is why Russia 2018 will appear to go without a blot on their copybook. Couple of years old but first few mins and ending still stand.
Completely agree. I said this to someone at work on Friday who said if he was a player he wouldn’t even go due to security. This tournament is a month long PR exercise for Putin and Russia in why he’ll want to show its ‘the best country in the world’. I fully expect hardly any trouble - much less than a normal World Cup - and no security issues at all.
Trouble is well behaved Russian hoolies will let our little arseholes feel brave and do their ****itude. Abuse foreigners throw beer at them etc etc It's how the Russian police etc deal with them that's the problem
I don't understand your attitude to our England support Chazz. Russian hoolies are well behaved now and don't abuse foreigners? Are all our supporters arseholes? I imagine it takes more commitment to travel away to Russia than a quick jolly to the Dam, why brand them little arseholes before the event?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7048674.stm I went to this match - to be fair the police were everywhere making sure there was no trouble - having said that one pub was targeted by Russians with baseball bats and they pored in hitting our fans indiscriminately - close to the ground all the England fans were cordoned off, forced to remove colours and escorted into the stadium - and away again - the stadium was surrounded by army, army vehicles and riot police - it really was a full military operation - all match long rockets were taking off from the stands and landing on the pitch - I'm sure most fans will be fine - as the article says going off by yourself when you've had a few late at night is a recipe for getting filled in
