Euro 2016: French Riot Squad Charges Against England, Russia Fans

June 16, 2016

Lille, Jun 16: French police repeatedly fired tear gas and baton charged England and Russia fans in Lille as Euro 2016's hooligan protagonists took their rivalry to a new city.

Euro 2016

Tens of thousands of English, Welsh, Russian and Slovakian supporters took over the city and brawling erupted between rival groups as a day of heavy beer-drinking took its toll.

Anxious to avoid the 35 injuries caused by unrest in Marseille on Saturday, each time serious trouble loomed, a legion of riot squad gathered behind shields, fired tear gas and flash bombs and charged.

The scene was repeated across central Lille into the night. One group of 200 chanting supporters was broken up just before midnight.

French fans coming out of the Lille fan zone after France's 2-0 win over Albania then threw bottles and stones at police.

Trouble also boiled over on a French train heading to Lille from Calais. England and Wales fans fought each other and five were arrested when the train arrived, authorities said.

Police said 36 arrests were made in total and 16 people were injured. Three Russians and a Ukrainian were to be expelled from the country.

Russia lost to Slovakia 2-1 in Lille on Wednesday, ahead of England's important clash with Wales in nearby Lens on Thursday.

The convergence of the army of fans led to French authorities putting 4,000 police and gendarmes on the streets.

Beery English supporters belted out anti-Russian and anti-European songs and kicked footballs over the heads of watching riot police through the day.

Outside some cafes lines of police made fans trying to carry their plastic goblets of beer onto the streets pour the liquid down the drain.

Banner causes fear

A "God Save The Queen" banner hung from the balcony of the Hotel Continental near the Lille-Flandres train station until it was removed at the demand of the manager, who feared it would trigger fisticuffs between England and Russia fans.

"I'm afraid of what happens if the Russians lose," he said.

"They are a proud people. I'm afraid it will be the same as Marseille."

Russian fans occasionally squared up to rivals but there was none of the mass fighting that darkened football's reputation again in Marseille.

UEFA, Europe's football governing body, has said Russia will be expelled from the European Championship if their fans are involved in more stadium trouble.

A flare was briefly set off in the stadium, but UEFA made no immediate announcement of an inquiry.

Michael Donelian, a 28-year-old estate agent from Reading, told AFP he and his friend who had tickets to the Russia-Slovakia game had considered at one point giving them away.

"We thought if the Russians see us and know we're English they might beat us up," he said outside a pub.

"But I haven't seen any trouble," said Donelian.

"If the Russians attack you've got to defend yourself," Gary Hill, a 42-year English builder mocked up as Frenchmen with a black beret and string of fake onions around his neck, told AFP.

In the Russian camp, most supporters who spoke to AFP assured they had no truck with hooliganism.

Yuril Shabanov, 14, from the Russian city of Perm, was en route to the game with his father and two friends, all with Russian flags around their shoulders.

According to French prosecutors, about 150 well-organised Russian "ultras" were the cause of much of the unrest in Marseille.

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May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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May 7,2020

Melbourne, May 7: Australia opener Joe Burns is eyeing the Tests against India should they take place later this year, to stabilise his stop-start international career, saying "you want to play in and do well in" in this kind of series.

India is scheduled to play four Tests in Australia in December-January, a series which is currently in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 2.5 lakh lives across the world.

"They are obviously world class team. I think the two teams going at each other will be very exciting to watch and players playing against each other as well," Burns told reporters in a video conference on Thursday.

"You look at the world ranking, they were number one and now we have got to number one, so I know that series will be anticipated by everyone and as a player this is a sort of series you want to play in and do well in."

With the coronavirus also threatening the T20 World Cup, Cricket Australia is under financial stress and has gone on a cost-cutting drive, which included standing down 80 per cent of its staff at 20 per cent salary.

There are also speculations that the Sheffield Shield for 2020-21 would be curtailed to cut costs.

Burns, however, hoped it won't be tinkered with.

"I love the fact we have a really strong first-class system. The 10 games, where you play everyone twice," Burns, who was struck down by a fatigue illness after an indifferent season, said.

"It leads to world-class players coming into Test teams. You don't want to see that get changed.

"Obviously it is unique circumstances at the moment and There's a lot of things to work through ... the players' association is consulted on those things."

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