Putin “Mocks” England Fans With Dismissive Speech About Football Violence

Vladimir Putin has broken his silence regarding the violent clashes that erupted between England and Russia fans ahead of their match at the Euros.

Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Putin first commented that the violence was disgraceful, before apparently poking fun at the England fans:

“The fighting between Russian fans with the English, that is a disgrace. I don’t know how 200 Russian fans could beat several thousand of the British…”

This fairly dismissive comment was reportedly met with laughs.

French police have attributed most of the violence to a group of 150 “hyper rapid and hyper violent” Russian “ultras” who arrived in France intent on causing trouble.

You’d think that Putin would take a less dismissive attitude: in light of the “mob violence” and violent clashes, Russia have been handed a “suspended disqualification”, meaning that if they cause any more violence, they’ll be kicked out of the competition.

Russia were recently banned from the Olympics due to doping, and are due to host the 2018 World Cup.