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Euro shame: Russian fans jailed for up to 2 years

June 16, 2016 21:29 IST

IMAGE: A Russian fan smashes a chair over an England supporter as another attacks him on the ground as they clash ahead of the game against Russia in Marseille on Saturday. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images. 

A French court jailed three Russian football supporters for up to two years for their role in violence before the England-Russia Euro 2016 match in Marseille.

Alexei Yerunov, Nikolai Morozov and Sergei Gorbachev were among 43 Russian supporters detained by French police in southern France on Tuesday after the pitched battles which left more than 30 people injured.

Yerunov, 29, who is supporters' liaison officer at Lokomotiv Moscow according to the club's website, received the longest prison sentence of 24 months.

He admitted he was at the scene of an attack on an English supporter who was left in a critical state after being beaten around the head with an iron bar. He denied being responsible.

"I apologise. I recognise that I was there but I didn't hit anyone. My hands are clean," he told the court.

Gorbachev, who leads a supporters' club at Russian second division club Arsenal Tula, was jailed for 18 months.

Morozov, 28, received the shortest sentence of 12 months.

Prosecutor Andre Ribe described the Russians' behaviour in the chaotic scenes in Marseille on Saturday: "It was a hunt. They ran off together, staying in a group and keeping enough energy for what they call 'the fight'."

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