Russian soccer hooligans attack tourists in Cologne
June 16, 2016
According to German media reports on Thursday, a group of Russian soccer hooligans making their way home from the Euro 2016 tournament attacked and injured several tourists in front of the Cologne Cathedral in western Germany.
Six Russian nationals were arrested, authorities said, "on their way to the airport to fly back to Moscow this evening."
A seventh suspect, thought to be around 30 years old, evaded the officers. A police spokesman said that Cologne Airport had been informed that the seven men had tickets for a flight scheduled to leave for Moscow shortly before 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT/UTC).
According to the city's "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" news organization, the assailants were wearing gloves and balaclavas.
The attack occurred in the early evening as the seven met set upon a group of tourists, reportedly from Spain, breaking the nose of one man and severely injuring two others.
The incident follows days of brawls between Russian and English fans in the southern French city of Marseille, which hosted the match between the two countries. Russia has been slapped with a fine and a final warning from UEFA, and French authorities arrested three Russian hooligans before deporting twenty others. Even after the Russia-England game had come and gone, some English fans continued the violence, clashing with police in the city of Lille.