BBC film on Russian football hooligans aims to discredit Russia, Deputy PM Says

The recent BBC documentary about Russian football fans is another attack on Russia and an attempt to discredit the country, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said, Sputnik reports.

Late on Thursday, BBC aired a film, dubbed "Russia's Hooligan Army," based on the events of the UEFA Euro 2016 championship in France, when at least 30 people were injured in clashes between Russia and England fans after a football match in Marseille.

"Many seek to discredit us, to intervene, to find weak spots… We understand perfectly well that when such films, made in haste, are aired, it is an attack on Russia," Mutko, who is a former sports minister,  told reporters.

He added that it would have been better to air the 2008 Champions League Final, during which 40,000 Britons arrived in Moscow, and ask them whether they had faced any problems.