Russian MP Igor Lebedev wants to legalise football hooliganism
Sunday 5 March 2017 21:09, UK
A Russian MP has proposed an unorthodox solution to the country's problems with football hooliganism ahead of next year's World Cup by calling for it to be legalised and made into a spectator sport.
Igor Lebedev, who sits in the Russian parliament and is also on the board of the Russian Football Union has drawn up rules for what he calls "draka," the Russian word for "fight" - with 20 fighters on each side, unarmed, in an arena.
In a statement on the website of the nationalist LDPR party, Lebedev said organized brawls "could turn fans' aggression in a peaceful direction."
He also claimed it would serve as an "example" for English fans, who he characterised as undisciplined louts and poor fighters.
"Russia would be a pioneer in a new sport," said Lebedev, who also suggested fights between different fan groups could draw crowds of thousands. "English fans arrive, for example, and start picking fights. And they get the answer challenge accepted. A meeting in a stadium at a set time."
Organized groups of Russian fans, many with martial arts training, fought English fans on the streets of Marseille during last year's European Championship.
Some fan groups in Russia already hold illicit fights along similar lines, typically pre-arranged mass brawls in rural locations, away from police.
A Russian Premier League game on Saturday between CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg was marred by clashes between small groups of rival fans who fought one another and tried to break through a security fence.
Lebedev previously courted controversy with his views on hooligans when he hailed the violence in Marseille last year, telling Russian fans: "Well done lads, keep it up!"
Despite his enthusiasm for soccer-related violence, Lebedev insisted Russian policing meant foreign fans wouldn't be in danger at the World Cup. "We've taken all the safety measures, modernised legislation. Not a single tourist has any reason to fear traveling to our country in the summer of 2018."
