The violence at the Stade Velodrome venue came after England and Russia tied each other 1-1, with Russian fans rushing at the England supporters in the stadium and breaking through security barriers meant to separate rival supporters.
European soccer’s government body, UEFA, said late on June 11 that it will open disciplinary proceedings over the violence, with Russia facing the possibility of stronger sanctions due to the attack at the stadium.
The UEFA disciplinary panel judges at those proceedings also could take the previous history of violence by Russian fans into consideration, including attacks on stadium security staff at Euro 2012 in Poland.
UEFA said on June 11 it “firmly condemns the incidents in Marseille” and that “people engaging in such violent acts have no place in football.”
Meanwhile, French media reported clashes late on June 11 in the southern French city of Nice between fans from Northern Ireland and locals.
That violence also included clashes between fans and riot police, with seven people reportedly injured.
There had been trouble the previous two days in Marseille, which escalated to clashes in another part of the city between soccer fans from Russia, England, and France on June 11 before the match.
The BBC quoted British journalists in Marseille’s Vieux Port district who blamed that violence on “a gang of black-clad Russians” who entered a main square from a side street “apparently seeking violence.”
But a BBC correspondent at the square said English fans also clashed with and threw bottles at French police, with the French authorities using tear gas and a water cannon before eventually charging the fans left in the square.
French police said at least six people were arrested on June 11 before the match and at least five were injured in the clashes, which continued to break out in different parts of the city during the late afternoon and early evening.
They did not identify the nationalities of those arrested or injured.
But a police spokeswoman said at least one Briton injured in the clashes before the match had to be resuscitated by authorities.
Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with French authorities about one British citizen who had been seriously injured in Marseille before the June 11 match.
British Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham said earlier in the day that the behavior of English fans in Marseille has been “embarrassing” at a time when France is under a terrorism threat.
Three England fans and a French woman appeared in a Marseille court on June 11 to face charges of committing acts of violence the previous day.
They had been held in custody overnight after being arrested for throwing bottles and other objects at police as trouble flared on June 10.
A total of seven arrests were made in Marseille late on June 10.
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