Just as Bob Green was about to leave for a World Cup voyage across Russia, it became tense in the England supporter’s household, as his girlfriend worried about his safety.
“There were massive concerns, arguments,” he recalled. “Hiding my passport on the last day.”
Two years ago in France, Green was in Marseille’s Old Port when Russian hooligan gangs attacked English fans before the two countries played at the European Championship.
“Some people were violent,” Green said. “But I’m not going to get driven away from what I love and have done for so many years by 150 people.”
British police want to keep fans such as Green safe in Russia, but to do so, they need to cooperate with Russian officials while the two governments are feuding over the poisoning of a former spy.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Britain was almost “almost 100 percent sure” President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin ordered the March attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England using the military-grade nerve agent, Novichok. Russians were outraged by Johnson comparing this World Cup to the 1936 Olympics in Hitler’s Germany. Millions of Russians died fighting the Nazis in World War II.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the head of British football policing, now has to work alongside officials from a country that accused the UK of fabricating the poisoning.
“Of course we are aware of the threats and the broader political situation, but we need to maintain an effective relationship with the Russian police,” Roberts told The Associated Press. “That’s not being…
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