MOSCOW, June 26 (R-Sport) - Russia’s police are to create a taskforce to talk to sports fans and get intelligence on hooligans’ plans as part of their World Cup 2018 preparations, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Relationships between the police and fans are often confrontational, with clashes between the two common, making the fight against hooliganism a top priority as Russia gears up to host the World Cup for the first time.
“In connection with the preparation in Russia for hosting the 2018 World Cup in football … the management of the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation has taken the decision to create a department for organizing work with fans of sports teams,” a ministry spokesman said.
The new unit’s focus will be on finding out the intentions of criminal groups among supporters, he added.
The spokesman said that Russian Premier League football matches accounted for 70 percent of crime committed at Russian stadiums despite the league’s fans being a small minority of total sports attendance.
The lower house of the Russian parliament last week threw its support behind a bill that would introduce stadium bans of up to seven years for those convicted of committing a crime at a sports event. If the bill becomes law, it will be the first time Russia has had English-style banning orders.
Earlier on Wednesday, a vice-president at the Russian FA vowed to crack down on racist abuse at stadiums in time for the World Cup, following complaints from FIFA's anti-racism ambassador.
