MARSEILLE/MOSCOW: The head of a Russian soccer supporters' association, Alexander Shprygin, is among 20 Russian fans who are to be expelled from France in the coming days, a police source said on Thursday.
The 20 are from a group of 43 detained by police in the Marseille region on Tuesday after violence flared at their Euro 2016 match against England.
Shprygin told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday that a bus carrying himself and other supporters to Lille in northern France had been stopped by riot police in Cannes in the south of the country.
Also on Thursday, three Russian fans were handed jail sentences of one year, 18 months and two years respectively by a Marseille court for planning acts intended to harm people and destroy property.
Russia to blacklist hooligans from World Cup
Meanwhile in Moscow, Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Russia will blacklist Russian and foreign soccer hooligans ahead of the 2018 World Cup which it is hosting, the TASS news agency reported.
"There must be blacklists. Those breaking the law must be barred from entry into the country and from attending matches," Dvorkovich was cited as saying. "This refers to both our fans ... and foreign ones."
