European hooliganism never really went away, although it appeared so for a couple of years. What really happened, however, was a shift of hooligan clashes away from stadiums and into more secret venues. Most hooligan violence does not occur spontaneously, but is instead the result of scheduled confrontations that are often captured on videos uploaded by the groups themselves. [...]
For many hooligans, the Euro 2016 might also be the last large-scale international tournament in nearly a decade. The next Euro and World Championships are scheduled to take place in 2018 in Russia and in 2022 in Qatar — two countries where police officers are not expected to hesitate to aggressively confront potential hooligans from abroad or to enforce strict laws. Moreover, the Euro 2020 will be held in over 13 different countries, which likely will prevent large-scale violence. [...]
Whereas hooliganism in other former Eastern Bloc states was strongly connected to criticism of the government, the opposite appears to be the case now in Russia. Following the violent clashes in southern France, a spokesman for Russia's main federal investigating authority implied on Twitter that the English soccer fans had lost against the Russians because "a normal man, as he should be, surprises them. (The English) are used to seeing 'men' at gay parades." Russia might have some of the world's strictest anti-hooligan laws — but when the violence hits English fans, some officials appear to be unconcerned.
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