Euro 2012: 6,000 officers to tackle Russia football thugs ahead of tonight's match in Warsaw

 
12 June 2012

Soldiers were being drafted in to the Polish capital today to help combat the threat of hooliganism from Russia football supporters tonight.

Police said the game between the host country and Russia in Warsaw offered the biggest security challenge of the Euro 2012 tournament with 6,000 officers on duty.

Russia supporters beat up stadium stewards after their team’s victory over the Czech Republic in Wroclaw on Friday and clashed with local fans in other violent incidents.

Russia fans are planning a march across a central Warsaw bridge to celebrate their national day and police fears local hooligans will gather to face them.

Poland’s interior minister Jacek Cichocki said: “Preparations for the match constitute the biggest challenge for law and order in the capital.”

Nearly 10,000 Russian fans and 29,300 home country supporters have tickets for tonight’s match.

Polish papers have been accused of fuelling nationalist feelings before the game by making references to Poland’s victorious battle in 1920 against Russia’s Bolshevik army, a clash known locally as the Miracle of Vistula.

Poland boss Frank Smuda has been portrayed as a Twenties general, charging on horseback with sabre in hand with the headline: Faith, hope, Smuda.

Another paper had the headline: “Poland v Russia: The battle of Warsaw 2012.”

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