Things got contaversial at Euro 2016 during its opening weekend. During the 90 minutes between the opening and closing whistles of matches were spectacular, but otherwise, when the teams go away and fans are left to their own devices, hooliganism reigned Saturday.
The most notorious incidences so far have involved the actions of England and Russia fans surrounding the England vs. Russia group stage match this past Saturday. Some of those incidences are depicted in this video:
As my co-worker Sam Klomhaus pointed out, much of the English media are blaming the Russians for the hooliganism that broke out, but for those of you expected the reverse to be true, prepare to be surprised (or not, this is Russia we’re talking about after all).
A Russian FA executive has portrayed what occurred Saturday as normal: “Football fans in 9 out of 10 cases come to the game to fight, and this is a normal situation.”
A Russian politician has come out and outright praised the actions of Russian hooligans: "I don't see anything bad in the fans fighting. Quite the opposite: well done our lads!"
And a “Russian top cop” has threw the French police under the bus, saying that “gay pride parades have made French police weak and unprepared for might, manly Russian hooligans.”
All of this leaves a little more than just a sour taste in the mouth. Euro 2016 is supposed to be a festival of football, but the opening weekend has been tarnished with scenes more reminiscent of a riot than any celebration we’re familiar with.
Thank goodness, then, for Ireland and Sweden fans. Before the Ireland vs Sweden group match today a bunch of supporters for either side were recorded singing ABBA together:
Irish and Swedes uniting to belt out some Abba- a thing of beauty. #coybig #irishfans pic.twitter.com/8Rqh1ds9Tc
— Paddy McKenna (@PaddyMcKenna) June 13, 2016
This is what Euro 2016 is supposed to be about: people letting loose and having fun, and most importantly not destroying things. If a festival of football doesn’t make it OK for drunk grown men who are fans of rival teams to sing a feminine song about a 17-year-old dancing queen, and bond doing it, and make me want to be there singing right next to them, than what’s the point?
Thank you ABBA, but most of all thank you Sweden and Ireland fans for showing the world how to Euro 2016.
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