England captain Wayne Rooney and manager Roy Hodgson urge fans to stay out of trouble and avoid further Euro 2016 violence
Sport360 staff
19:22 13/06/2016
Sport360 staff
19:22 13/06/2016
âIâm appealing to you to stay out of trouble,â Hodgson said in a video message. âWe really desperately want to stay in the competition.â
Rooney told fans: âBe safe, be sensible and continue with your great support for the players.â
Violence in Marseille overshadowed Englandâs 1-1 draw with Russia and European governing body UEFA threatened to kick both teams out of the tournament if the disorder continued.
It also said both countries must make an appeal to their fans not to cause unrest.
England play rivals Wales in the northern French city of Lens on Thursday and Russian fans will also be in the area as their team face Slovakia in nearby Lille a day earlier.
In a video message posted on the English Football Associationâs Twitter feed, Hodgson said: âAs England manager Iâm obviously very concerned about the threat which is now hanging over us and the sanctions that could possibly be imposed upon the England team.
âWe worked very hard to get here and we really desperately want to stay in the competition. Iâm appealing therefore to all of our fans.
âWe appreciate your support at all our matches, of course, but Iâm appealing to you to stay out of trouble and to try and make certain that these threats that are being issued are never carried out.â
Following Hodgson, Rooney said: âIâd like to thank the England fans for the great support inside the stadium against Russia and now we have a big game coming up against Wales.
âIâd like to ask the fans, please, if you donât have a ticket, donât travel, and for the fans with tickets, be safe, be sensible, and continue with your great support for the players. Thank you.â
The FAâs chief executive, Martin Glenn, said on Sunday that the warning from UEFA was being treated with the âutmost seriousnessâ.
âWe understand the potential implications of our supportersâ actions and wholly accept that every effort needs to be made by the FA to positively urge them to act in a responsible and respectful way,â he added.
The Russian Football Union has also issued a warning to fans, urging them to âshow respect to the opponent and its fansâ and âfollow the laws and rules of conduct and public order in Franceâ.
Prior to the tournament, England and Wales were advised to base themselves in Lille for Thursdayâs game, rather than Lens, which is the smallest of the 10 host cities.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of Britainâs policing operation for the tournament, said it was ârealistic to expectâ that Russian fans in Lille will âtry to behave in a similar wayâ.
He told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: âThey will be in Lille the night before and people should just bear that in mind.â
The violence in Marseille, which left one English supporter in a critical condition and 10 people facing trial, unsettled the families of some England players.
Rebekah Vardy, wife of Leicester City striker Jamie, tweeted that she had been caught up by âhorrificâ violence prior to the Russia game.
âThat has to be up there with the worst experience EVER at an away game!â she wrote. âTeargassed for no reason, caged and treated like animals! Shocking!â