Polish police prevented a mass brawl between Russian and Polish hooligans by pre-emptively detaining more than 70 Russians, Russian presidential adviser Mikhail Fedotov said Sunday.
Police arrested 72 Russians on Saturday, allegedly forcing Polish hooligans to abandon plans for a fight they had arranged with the Russians, Fedotov said.
“There was some communication between representatives of Polish football-related hooligans and Russian football-related hooligans,” Fedotov said after meeting Polish interior minister Jacek Cichocki.
“The Polish hooligans were obliged to refuse this meeting with the words that we have no one left to go to battle against.”
“The Polish police hit out with such strength that no one was left, no one to fight.”
Warsaw police spokesperson Agnieszka Hamelusz told RIA Novosti that police had detained 71 Russians in two groups on Saturday, one group near the Warsaw fan zone and the other near the National Stadium.
The Russians were held until morning to prevent crime, she said, adding that they did not carry anything to identify them with particular clubs.
“They had some stuff to prepare for fighting,” she said, specifying that this included weapons and mouth guards.
Some of the Russians had provided false names to the police, she said. Some fans received small fines for this, according to reports in the Russian media.
More than 190 people were detained, including at least 162 Poles and 25 Russians, after Polish hooligans attacked several thousand Russian supporters marching to celebrate a national holiday before the two sides played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
