France deported Russian soccer fan leader Aleksandr Shprygin for the second time in less than a week over violence that marred the start of the Euro 2016 tournament, French authorities said on June 22.
Police re-arrested Shprygin on June 20 in the southwestern city of Toulouse, where the Russian team was playing Wales. He had previously been deported on June 18 following violence at an England-Russia match in Marseille, but he sneaked back into France.
This time, French authorities said they put Shprygin on a plane at the Paris airport headed for Moscow.
Fan violence prompted European soccer's governing body UEFA to threaten England and Russia with expulsion from the championship. Russia was eventually eliminated from the tournament after losing to Wales.
Disturbances have largely subsided in recent days, but police used tear gas, pepper spray, and batons to break up fights between Polish soccer fans in Marseille on June 21, detaining at least 12 of them.
