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Matviyenko believes Polish police are poorly prepared for Euro 2012

Matvienko explained she is certain that on the Polish side the conflict was provoked not by fans, but by hooligans and extremists

MOSCOW, June 16 (Itar-Tass) —— The speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, believes that the attacks against Russian soccer fans in Warsaw were largely due to poor preparedness of the Polish police.

“The way I see it, the Polish police should be better prepared professionally for such a large-scale event as the European soccer cup finals. One has the impression they are not very ready. Probably, they had made some preparations, but the results of that are not evident,” Matvienko said about the June 12 street clashes in Poland.

In her opinion, “the Polish police should respond more adequately and more timely and, what is still more important, prevent any likely actions of the sort.” Matvienko explained she is certain that on the Polish side the conflict was provoked not by fans, but by hooligans and extremists. “The police are expected to know all such groups pretty well and to take measures to neutralize them during the match,” she said.

Matvienko expressed the hope Polish justice would be fair.

In her opinion, UEFA should not use any sanctions against our team or against our fans.

“We believe that the decisions that have been taken so far are not very fair,” she said.

During unrest on June 12 the police in Warsaw detained 184 trouble-makers, including 156 Poles, 25 Russians and also Spaniards, one Hungarian and one Algerian. Several dozen people, including 17 police were injured. Twenty five Russians required medical assistance. Clashes with hooligans in Warsaw began when Russian fans were marching to the stadium before a match between the national squads of Russia and Poland.