UK and Russian police working well on World Cup trouble risks, MPs told

Posted Friday, May 11, 2018 by theguardian.com

England’s meeting with Russia at Euro 2016 was marred by the kind of violence the authorities are anxious to prevent at next month’s World Cup.

Russian and UK police are cooperating well on plans to protect supporters travelling to the World Cup, the Foreign Office has said, despite the collapse in relations between the two countries following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March.

The minister of state Harriett Baldwin told the foreign affairs select committee’s inquiry into government preparations for the World Cup that police and counter-terrorism are two operational areas in which cooperation with Russia is continuing, at a “strong level”. No individual or group has yet been identified as being responsible for the Salisbury attack.

Responding to concerns from MPs about hooliganism in Russia, particularly about potential racism, and prejudice against LGBT supporters, Baldwin acknowledged the risks and said the government is relying on security assurances given by the Russian authorities to Fifa. She said the UK police are applying established legal powers to prevent British troublemakers travelling to the World Cup, and helping to identify people who could pose a risk.

"We think Russian police will have taken similar steps with regard to potential troublemakers,” she said.

Those who attacked England fans at the Euro 2016 match between the countries’ national teams in Marseille have since been banned from attending football matches in Russia, Baldwin said, and the Russian government has given assurances to Fifa about the safety of fans at the World Cup.

However, Baldwin acknowledged strong concerns expressed by the committee’s chairman, the Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, that Russian police have behaved violently towards LGBT groups in Russia, and she accepted that, despite assurances given, the safety of travelling fans cannot be fully guaranteed.

Foreign office advice to Britons travelling to Russia warns that although most people do not experience trouble, “racially motivated attacks do occur” and “people of Asian or Afro-Caribbean descent may attract unwanted attention in public places and should take care, particularly when travelling late at night”.

Martin Harris, the Foreign Office director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, told the committee that cooperation between British and Russian police has worked well at five major matches officials have monitored, most recently Arsenal’s Europa League quarter final at CSKA Moscow last month. There were reports that Arsenal’s black players were subjected to monkey chants from some CSKA fans at that match, but Uefa said it did not receive reports and has not charged the club.

Fifa fined the Russian Football Union CHF 30,000 (£22,000) this week for racist chanting by fans during the friendly between Russia and France in Saint Petersburg in March.

"The way we test the assurances [given to Fifa] ourselves is to see how we have worked or been able to work with the Russian police over successive games,” Harris said.

"It’s not for us to police the games, but it’s to see whether the Russian police are willing to work with the UK police in ensuring that the safety and security of all fans is properly assured. And we have seen across those games and the most recent one since Salisbury that the level of cooperation has been good.”