Sports Briefs
TWO England fans have been removed from a Russian train after one allegedly grabbed a cop’s gun and the other ‘smashed a window’.
The chaos reportedly unfolded on a train travelling to the city of Volgograd, where England will face Tunisia in the World Cup tonight.
The first British man got into an altercation with a police officer on board the train, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
He was detained, with unverified reports claiming he was taken into custody after seizing an officer’s service pistol onboard the train.
The second man, who is also British, injured his hand and has been discharged from hospital, according to the source.
It is claimed that he suffered cuts after breaking a window onboard the vehicle, although this remains unconfirmed.
The British Embassy in Moscow said it did not have information about the incidents, while local police declined to comment.
It comes just hours before England’s football team will take to the pitch for their opening World Cup match in southern Russia.
The game kicks off at 7pm (UK time), with the Three Lions starting their quest for glory in the competition at Volgograd Arena.
Russian authorities have pledged to hold a safe and secure World Cup, which is taking place in 11 cities and runs until July 15.
A post on Russian social media has surfaced, purporting to be a leaked internal railway operator’s report about the train incidents.
It claims the first England fan seized the service pistol of a police officer who was on the train, before the weapon was removed from him. The unidentified fan was detained following the incident.
Meanwhile, the injured fan broke a window onboard the vehicle and received lacerations to his hand, according to the post.
The source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the outline of the incident described in the post but did not go into specific details.
A duty police officer in the location where the train was stopped en route to Volgograd said he heard such an incident took place but did not have details. It was not immediately clear when the incidents on the train took place.
The Russian Interior Ministry was not immediately available for comment. (Mirror)
– Jun. 18, 2018 @ 17:49 GMT |
Tags: World Cup 2018: Fan seizes Russian policeman’s gun
