PARIS/MARSEILLE - European soccer's governing body has warned the English and Russian soccer associations that their teams could be disqualified from Euro 2016 if there is a continuation of the fan violence that has injured several dozen people.
UEFA's threat came after it began disciplinary proceedings against the Russian federation on Sunday following ugly scenes inside Marseille's Stade Velodrome stadium at the end of Saturday's match between England and Russia.
Masked Russian fans charged at England supporters, punching and kicking them. Some England fans had to scramble over barriers to escape. UEFA said that it would also investigate allegations of racist behaviour and the throwing of missiles and fireworks. The violence in the stadium followed three days of clashes between English, Russian and French fans in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, drawing a strong response from riot police.
UEFA said it was "disgusted" and would not hesitate to impose sanctions, including "the potential disqualification of their respective teams from the tournament, should such violence occur again". "This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has no place in football," UEFA said, adding that a decision on sanctions against Russia would be made on Tuesday.
ALCOHOL BAN: The French government Sunday announced a ban on alcohol near Euro 2016 venues and fan zones, after three days of drunken violence among fans in the southern city of Marseille.
"I have asked for all necessary measures to be taken to prohibit the sale, consumption and transport of alcoholic drinks in sensitive areas on match days and the day before, and on days when fan zones are open," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. The ban will include public areas, as well as shops and off-licences, Cazeneuve said.
Senior local officials can also ban bars and cafes from serving drinks on their terraces in containers that can be used as missiles. "The events which took place in Marseille yesterday evening are unacceptable. Unacceptable for the authorities, unacceptable for society, unacceptable for football lovers," Cazeneuve said.
English and Russian fans will almost certainly cross paths in northern France later this week, with Russia playing Slovakia in Lille on Wednesday and England facing Wales only 40 km (25 miles) away in Lens on Thursday. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who had initially denied that there had been any crowd disturbance, said that UEFA was right to investigate. It is the second time in as many European Championship tournaments that the Russian federation has faced sanctions because of its fans.
Russia was fined and given a suspended six-point deduction for its Euro 2016 qualifying campaign after fans assaulted stadium security staff and displayed illicit banners at the 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
The British government urged calm on all sides and offered to send more police to France ahead of England's next game. Violence also briefly erupted in Nice, where Northern Irish and local fans hurled glass bottles and chairs at each other late on Saturday. Police said they had arrested 15 people after scuffles ahead of Sunday's game between Turkey and Croatia in Paris. The French government rallied behind the police amid questions over tactics and security inside the stadiums.
'SOCCER IS SICK': "If there is a failure, it is that of soccer, which is sick because some of its fans drink excessively and fight," Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet said on BFM-TV.
A UEFA spokesman said that more security personnel would be deployed to segregate rival fans inside stadiums. Further questions over security were raised when flares and a smoke bomb were let off at the Parc des Princes in Paris during Turkey's match against Croatia on Sunday.
In Marseille, some English fans suggested that French riot police had been heavy handed and quick to fire tear gas. Thirty-five people were hurt in the fighting, including one English fan who suffered a heart attack.
German, Ukrainian fans clash too: German football fans clashed with Ukrainian supporters in the French city of Lille on Sunday in the latest outbreak of violence at Euro 2016, an AFP photographer said.
The Germans lobbed bottles and punched Ukrainian rivals for several minutes in the trouble near the northern city's train station.
More than 50 known German hooligans were involved in the fighting, according to a German police source quoted by German sports news agency SID.
"There were no arrests and the police did not need to intervene," police told AFP. World champions Germany play Ukraine in their first match of Euro 2016 at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium in Lille on Sunday.
France has enlisted more than 90,000 police, soldiers and private security agents nationwide to ensure safety in the face of intelligence agency warnings of potential militant attacks and the threat of hooliganism.