Russia wants to punish Ukrainian football fans for insulting Putin at Euro 2020

Russian MP and former boxer Nikolai Valuev responded to the insults that Ukrainian football fans made against Russian President Vladimir Putin during a Euro 2020 match.

“There will be a reaction, of course. This does not make them look nice them, while we support the Ukrainian national team. The comparison here does not play in favor of the Ukrainian fans,” Valuev said.

One should not look for political overtones in those chants and link the incident to the actions of the Ukrainian authorities.

Ukrainian football fans started chanting insults against Russian President Putin during the match of the national team against North Macedonia at Euro 2020. The game ended with Ukraine wining 2:1. The goals were scored by Andrey Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk. 

The chant originally appeared in 2014 after the illegal coup in Ukraine and was concocted by radical football fans of Ukrainian clubs Metallist and Shakhter.

Russian MP Dmitry Svishchev suggested the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) should bar Ukrainian fans from next Euro 2020 matches, fine the Ukrainian Football Federation and punish the organizers of the action.