Deported Russian fan leader returns to Euro 2016
FAR-right Russian football fan leader Alexander Shprygin has been arrested in France – just two days after being deported over violence that cast a shadow over Euro 2016.
French police found Shprygin, head of the Russian Supporters’ Union, at the Russia vs Wales game in Toulouse after he phoned news agency AFP and told them: “I am at the match with a ticket.”
He added: “The French authorities told me I was not deported but just expelled, my Schengen visa has not been cancelled and all the stamps are there. So I can legally be in the European Union.”
He also posted photos of himself on Twitter, standing out side the stadium wearing a blue straw hat and sunglasses.
Russian fans were accused of orchestrating the violence against England supporters in Marseille, which left 35 people injured, including two men still in a serious condition in hospital.
Shprygin, who works for Russian nationalist politician Igor Lebedev, was among the 43 Russians held three days later.
Three of the group were jailed for up to two years and six England fans were jailed for up to six months for their roles in the fighting.
Twenty of the Russians, including Shprygin, were expelled from France on Saturday and flew from Nice to Moscow.
On Monday night, however, a spokesman for the French Interior Ministry confirmed: “He was arrested this evening in Toulouse.”
And, in further bad news for Shprygin, his side lost to Wales 0-3. –SkyNews.com