Just when you thought you’d heard the last about last weekend’s trouble in Marseille, along comes Vladimir Putin to stick his oar in.
Speaking at the St Petersburg International Forum, Mr. Putin admitted that the violence was a “disgrace” and a “complete outrage” but also added: “I truly don’t understand how 200 of our fans could beat up several thousand English.”
As you might expect, Mr. Putin also was keen to point the finger of blame elsewhere, criticising the already-under-fire French authorities for their handling of the situation.
The Russian president was speaking after one of his mates, Alexander Shprygin – leader of the Russian supporters union – was booted out of France. The 38-year-old had been on his way to Lille on Tuesday with the official Russian FA delegation when the bus he was on was stopped. Having been detained and moved to a holding cell, Shprygin will now be deported.
Not to worry though, eh Vlad? We’re sure your lot will handle things perfectly well when you have the World Cup in a couple of years’ time. Can’t see there being any violence whatsoever.
