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Slutsky refuses to condemn rioting Russia fans

The 45-year-old was keen to talk about on-field matters only following his side’s 1-1 draw with England.

LEONID SLUTSKY REFUSED to condemn the Russia fans who attacked England supporters at the end of the 1-1 Euro 2016 draw in Marseille on Saturday.

Hundreds of Russia fans burst through a flimsy security cordon to attack their English counterparts at one end of Stade Velodrome.

Helpless England supporters were forced to escape by leaping over high barriers with police absent from the ugly scenes.

But Slutsky insisted he had not seen the trouble at the final whistle shortly after Vasili Berezutski had cancelled out Eric Dier’s opener.

He said: “I’m not really up to speed with what’s going on so – we were preparing on the game – but in any case that’s clearly not the best thing for football.”

Pressed on the matter, he added: “I can’t really comment.”

Russia were handed a six-point penalty and suspended for the duration of their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign following incidents during the game against the Czech Republic at Euro 2012.

 

Omnisport understands UEFA will study reports of Saturday’s violence before deciding on further action, but Slutsky refused to acknowledge the sanction ever existed.

Slutsky said: “What problem did we have in the qualifying campaign? What problems were there?

“I don’t remember that situation, I think you’re mistaken.”

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