The UEFA disciplinary committee made a decision that Russia could be deducted six points in the qualifiers for Euro-2016 for the behaviour of the country’s fans and slapped a 120,000-euro fine on the Football Union of Russia (RFS). Formally, Russian fans were penalized for their fireworks and banners; in reality, it is a known fact that the Football Union of Russia was punished for the fact that the Russian fans had attacked stadium stewards in Wrocław after the Russia-Czech Republic game.
At present we can discuss the behaviour of the Polish fans who attacked Russian fans and later Croatian fans in the centre of Warsaw before the Russia-Poland match. It is also possible to appeal this case and affirm that the Russian fans could have been provoked into it – the RFS is currently trying to prove this fact. We need to realize that even a small incident with the participation of Russian fans can be enough to deprive our team of the opportunity to take part in the next European Championship.
A lot of experts and fans agree that it is possible to explain such a severe punishment by the fact that it can be considered to be a complex one. Scandals involving throwing bananas at black players, Nazi banners and slogans and pyrotechnic shows have taken their toll. After every scandal, UEFA made declarations that those incidents were in the sphere of the RFS control, because they had taken place during national matches; however, UEFA noted that if such incidents took place during international competitions, it would impose sanctions on the RFS. The UEFA officials always deliver on their promises. Sergey Fursenko, the President of the RFS, realizes that the decision of UEFA won’t be changed even after appealing this decision.
Actually, the RFS administration should not concentrate on the appeals; it should be trying to prevent new conflicts with the participation of the Russian fans. According to Kommersant, hundreds of irritated fans who are going to take revenge on the Polish fans intend to be present at the last game of the Russian team in the first leg.
All the sides promise that it will be possible to avoid mass conflicts, but small ones are inevitable. Nevertheless, the conflicts which take place off-pitch won’t matter to UEFA, unless the Russian fans and the Polish ones attack each other once again. The officials of the football sphere think that the police should deal with the behaviour of the fans in the streets, but the same conflicts on the pitch can do our team much harm. We should note that every incident can be crucial in this situation, even ambiguous banner, football chants (the Polish fans know Russian quite well) or pyrotechnics.
If the worst forecasts come true, the Russian team and the RFS can expect imposing much severer sanctions on them; it is possible that the UEFA officials won’t delay these sanctions.
The football community has appealed to the RFS many times, asking it to pay attention to the section of fans known for their regular provocative activity on the pitches of the country; the RFS has been warned many times that this fact could provoke international sanctions.
Nazi greetings from the terraces, racial and chauvinistic slogans and chants, obscene and offensive texts of the banners, fighting and pyrotechnics are the everyday life of Russian football. There are ever fewer normal fans who don’t want to risk their health or watch football matches in such an atmosphere.
The RFS and the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) not only did nothing to change the situation; they also made a gesture to the radical fan groups, providing them with privileged seats and tours. As a result, the RFS has no control over the fans nor any strategy for solving this burning problem.
Believe it or not, but at the very moment that the Russian team is demonstrating that it is able to reach a significant result, its own fans have become the obstacle. These are the same fans who blamed the Russian team for its indifference and lack of patriotism and persistence. Nowadays, players and managers have got a reply to these claims.
