Marseille - England and Russia fans have been caught up on Saturday in horrific scenes in Marseille only hours before their finals opener at the city's Stade Velodrome, according to local media reports. Various reporters and fans have been sending live updates on social media involving running battles between fans and the local police with water cannons being deployed to try to restore order after a third day of fighting in the city.
Marseille – England and Russia fans have been caught up on Saturday in horrific scenes in Marseille only hours before their finals opener at the city’s Stade Velodrome, according to local media reports. Various reporters and fans have been sending live updates on social media involving running battles between fans and the local police with water cannons being deployed to try to restore order after a third day of fighting in the city.
“300 Russian fans ambush England fans, one England fan critical, water cannon in Vieux Port,” tweeted the former Liverpool and England forward Stan Collymore.
Patches of broken glass were dotted around the road and walkways near the Queen Victoria pub, the centre point of clashes between English, Russian and French fans, as well as police, on Thursday and Friday, with two large cafe windows boarded up.
On Friday there were nine arrests and a handful of minor injuries as riot police, out in huge numbers, seemed content to corral the various factions to areas where they could control them and rarely intervened even when large groups were chasing each other around the town in the early hours.