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Duma plans public discussion of bill On fans

A working group will be set up to make the necessary amendments to the bill
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, December 5 (Itar-Tass) —— The State Duma will most likely discuss a bill On sports fans at first reading in January, Head of the Duma Committee on Physical Training, Sports and Youth Organizations Igor Ananskikh told Itar-Tass. The Duma deputies intend to present the text of the bill as a document at work and discuss it with all the interested sides, the MP said.

A working group will be set up to make the necessary amendments to the bill, he said. A discussion of the document will be held at the Lower Chamber in a round-table format with all the interested people attending- sports fans, representatives of the fans' movement, club owners, owners of sports premises in order to draft an optimal version of the bill, Ananskikh said.

It is unlikely that that bill might be adopted at first reading before the Duma ends its autumn session, he said. There is such a chance, but judging by the situation the bill will come up at the State Duma in January, the MP said.

A need to adopt the bill arose after a scandal during a soccer game between two Russian famous football clubs held on Arena Khimki field in the Moscow region on November 17. After the Dynamo club scored its first goal when the game was 27 minutes through the fans of the rival soccer team hurled petards onto the soccer field; one of the petards exploded and injured Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin. The game was stopped.

Police detained 92 fans after the incident. A criminal case on charges of hooliganism was opened, which carries a prison term up to seven years. The Interior Ministry brought the investigation under special control.

Earlier, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev urged to tighten punishment for hooliganism at sports competitions. Medvedev did not rule out that fans responsible for grave violations at stadiums might be banned from attending sports events for life.