Russia: There will be no revenge attacks

7:45am Friday 16th May 2008

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THE Russian government yesterday urged English football fans to behave "respectfully"

at next week's Champions League final.

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said the authorities would be making sure there were no attacks on English fans in revenge for the stabbing of a Russian fan inside the City of Manchester Stadium, shortly before kick off at last night's Uefa Cup final in Manchester.

Speaking to Chelsea and Manchester United fans ahead of next week's game in Moscow, Mr Mutko urged the fans of the losing side not to react violently.

He said the police and military on duty in the city would control the event in a "proper and calm way".

"We will make sure there will be no revenge attacks, or anything like that," he said.

Drinking will be banned in the streets and there will be no big screens for fans to watch the match on.

Mr Mutko said: "I do not want to see the same picture in Moscow. We would like to call on the fans of the losing team to appreciate that in football there is always a winner and a loser."

Police defended their response to rampaging Rangers fans as "appropriate" and blamed a minority for clashes that marred the match.

The Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, Justine Curran, said they had no choice but to act against supporters who she said behaved like a "baying pack of wolves".

Dramatic CCTV footage released by police showed seven officers attempting to keep the 200 fans at arm's length as cans, bottles and rubbish were hurled at them.

Six of the officers eventually backed off, but one policemen was tripped to the ground and kicked and stamped on before making his escape as a stream of up to 200 fans surged forward.

Ambulance crews also came under attack.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the yobs were a "disgrace" who had jeopardised England's chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup finals, but some Rangers fans said they were jostled by police before any trouble broke out and that officers over-reacted.

Forty-two arrests were made after running battles in the streets and 15 police officers were injured.

A further eight people were detained after disorder at a number of North-West train stations. Eleven Rangers fans, all men, were charged with various offences - seven for public order, one with assault, one with being drunk in a sports ground and one for throwing a missile.

A further 11 Rangers supporters were bailed pending further inquiries and 12 were cautioned. Seven men, including one Zenit fan, were released without charge.

Most of the violence was sparked by the failure of one of the big screens brought in to show the match to more than 100,000 ticketless fans.

Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: "Whether it was the big screen going down, or a problem with alcohol, the behaviour of this small minority of yobs was not acceptable."

Council chiefs have scrapped plans to show next week's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea on big screens following last night's chaos.

By yesterday afternoon, the city had returned to normality as an army of about 250 cleaners cleared the streets of the many tons of rubbish left in the wake of Rangers' 2-0 defeat