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Russia's Hooligan Army

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This programme contains some violent scenes from the start and some strong language

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2018 Fifa World Cup, ladies and gentlemen,

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-will be organised in Russia.

-CHEERING

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In 2018, Russia will host the Fifa World Cup.

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One of the biggest sporting events on the planet.

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We are eager to do our best to secure the comfort

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and safety of our guests.

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President Putin has promised peace, love and harmony.

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But at the European Championships in France,

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we saw a different side of Russian football.

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Russians, Russians.

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So what can fans expect of the host country if they travel to Russia in 2018?

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I'm going to Russia to meet the hooligans who hold the fate of

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England fans in their hands.

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Men who reject the negative image of the past to embrace a new identity.

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A football culture where violence is celebrated.

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I track down the men who terrorised Marseille.

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And meet the next generation of hooligans as they train for the World Cup.

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CHANTING

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Marseille, June 2016,

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and the ugly face of English football is rearing its head again.

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Drunken England fans throwing bottles and trashing a foreign city.

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Making it clear that Britannia still rules the waves.

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I follow England away every time, yeah.

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Sometimes we get people come with England and they throw bottles.

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They're not the best supporters.

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Euro 2016 is becoming a depressing throwback to a hooliganism that many

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people thought was a thing of the past.

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But England fans, even those who weren't causing trouble,

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were about to have much bigger problems than the French police.

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After a couple of hours of drinking in the morning,

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I'm just relaxing outside, my feet are up on the table in front of me,

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I've got about four beers around me.

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Then the Russians sort of appeared.

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First thing I noticed was the noise.

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Just chanting.

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They chanted together and they moved together.

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It was...

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It was like a military operation.

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Russians, Russians.

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The brutality of them.

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It wasn't just, you knock someone over and they're down, that's it,

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move on.

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They were...

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..kicking and stamping.

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What's me problem? We've just been attacked.

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'There was crowds of people just shouting,

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'trying to get away from it, really.

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'They were attacking in little groups, like they'd been given

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'numbers, or teams had been picked.'

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I remember one guy that I seen in fairly close proximity,

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missing a tooth, and his head was about the size of my shoulder width.

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Ten of us made it into this cafe.

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And we could just see the...

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The devastation that they were causing.

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-Look at them, they've all got masks on.

-Look at that outside, there.

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Cowards. Cowards.

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'It was terrifying. You just didn't know what to do.

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'You could see groups running and charging, people running for their lives.'

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-These are Russians, these ones.

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

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Look at him! They're kicking the shit out of that old boy.

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That's when I knew that there was a chance that people could die,

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because when you've got 10, 12 people onto one person,

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you've got no chance.

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There was people lying unconscious everywhere.

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There was people staggering about with blood.

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And that's when I noticed that there was a big guy.

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You know, I could see that

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he was...

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He was in a mess. He was completely on his back.

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I could see that his life was ticking away from him.

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It was just an awful thing to see.

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England fans Andrew Bache and Stewart Gray were beaten into a coma

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and left for dead.

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It was like a war scene.

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The six that I went with, there was a guy who had served in Iraq.

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He said he was more scared there than he ever was in war.

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It was like they wanted to kill people.

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They didn't just want to beat them up, they wanted to kill people.

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They wanted to

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inflict as much injury on these people as they possibly could.

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I was going there to enjoy the sunshine,

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and the bad beer and the beautiful French girls.

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And the Russians were there to enjoy the England fans,

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and to attack the England fans.

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And it was as simple as that.

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I think the most striking thing about the Russian hooligan groups

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was that they were clearly very well organised, very sober.

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It was a hard core of Russians who clearly spent a lot of time in

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the gym working out, were very well built.

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Suddenly, the antics of England fans seemed like small beer in the face

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of the worst football violence ever witnessed at

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an international tournament.

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When the tear gas cleared, more than 100 England fans were injured.

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30 ended up in hospital.

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The lives of five hung in the balance for several days.

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CHANTING

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I've been observing football disorder since 1998,

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involving English fans abroad,

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and this was by far and away the worst I've ever seen in terms of the

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numbers involved, in terms of the injuries.

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It was a complete and utter breakdown of law and order

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in Marseille.

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For a while, the British press didn't know who to blame -

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the England fans or the French police.

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But the most lurid headlines were reserved for the Russians.

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On Twitter, the deputy chairman of the Russian parliament, Igor Lebedev,

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congratulated the hooligans for defending their country's honour.

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Vladimir Markin, a media spokesman for the police,

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claimed that the French authorities failed to stop the fighting because

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they were more used to policing Gay Pride.

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It even fuelled rumours that the government of Vladimir Putin was

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somehow linked to the hooligans.

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Here, tabloid interest focused on one man in particular,

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the alleged leader of the Russian hooligans in Marseille,

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Vasily the Killer.

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The star of online videos,

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Vasily is a hero for Russian football hooligans.

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With Russia hosting the World Cup in 2018,

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what will men like him have in store for English fans heading to the

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tournament?

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It's four months since the violence in Marseille.

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I've come to Moscow to track down some of the men responsible for the

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trouble at Euro 2016,

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and find out just what's behind this upsurge in Russian football violence.

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After the events in Marseille,

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the Russian organisers and the public know they have a problem to

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deal with.

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I'm heading to one of the stadiums that will be used for the World Cup,

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the home of Spartak Moscow.

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When Russia controversially won the competition to host world football's

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premier event, President Putin promised a trouble-free tournament.

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You can take my word for it, the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be up

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to the highest standards.

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The official bid presented an image of peaceful, multiracial harmony.

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A vote for Russia is a vote for the future.

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But on the ground, it doesn't feel that way.

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It's derby day between Spartak and CSKA,

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the two most successful Moscow teams.

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Mobile phone footage taken by a fan shows that fights have already

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broken out on the Moscow underground.

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Outside the stadium, I ask what the fans here thought about an influx

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of England supporters for the World Cup.

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There's a heavy police presence.

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Both clubs have extremely active hooligan firms.

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It's time to head in.

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Posing as a tourist, I manage to get a camera inside.

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The Spartak hooligans are based in the north tribune.

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One of their leaders, the head of the Gladiators firm,

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is the legendary Vasily the Killer,

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the alleged mastermind of the hooligans in Marseille.

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Someone I want to talk to.

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I'm clearly in the right place.

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In front of me, throwing Nazi salutes,

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are the Spartak firm the Mad Butchers.

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But so far, no sign of Vasily the Killer.

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CHANTING

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In Russian football grounds, the firms often have their own security,

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and they're not overly keen on me filming.

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One of them's busy, he's fine.

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Finally, I spot the Killer himself.

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The next challenge is to see if he'll speak to me.

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We arrange to meet at a bar near the stadium.

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For one of Russia's most notorious hooligans,

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Vasily seems surprisingly willing to share his life story with me.

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'I gently move the conversation to the events in Marseille.'

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'So, who were the hooligans in Marseille?'

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Don't ask about that?

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'It seems this line of questioning is not so welcome.'

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'Perhaps, not surprisingly,

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'Vasily isn't willing to reveal the names of anyone who was in Marseille.'

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'The interview is over.'

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Vasily belongs to a generation that emerged in the 1990s after the

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collapse of the Soviet Union.

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New freedoms meant they looked West for their cultural inspiration,

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in food, music, fashion and, of course, in football.

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On the outskirts of Moscow,

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I meet up with a group of former Russian hooligans.

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They grew up idolising the English firms they saw on TV.

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-CHANTING:

-England! England!

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English hooligan culture grew out of the 1970s and '80s,

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when football stadiums were the scene of infamous riots.

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'The worst violence erupted with the final whistle.

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'Millwall fans invaded the pitch,

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'ripping up seats and throwing them around.'

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This culture revolved around casual fashion,

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and organised fights away from stadiums.

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Coming together to support the national team,

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English firms spread terror around the world,

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culminating in the mass brawls of Euro 2000 in Belgium.

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The Russians looked on and were inspired,

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causing violence to erupt in stadiums across the country.

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Police versus fans,

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it was the main battle.

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Battle in the real meaning of this, of this word.

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Going in '90s to the football stadium in Russia,

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it was closely connected with some trouble,

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because police didn't understand the problem.

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With violence spreading throughout the game,

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the Russian authorities decided enough was enough.

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In 2000, they attempted to bring the hooligans under control.

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Supporter groups were brought together under the umbrella of a state backed body.

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It was called the All-Russian Fans Association, the ARFA.

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The head of the organisation, Alexander Shprygin,

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has been linked to Vladimir Putin's government.

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He's also been accused of being a far-right activist.

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I tracked him down to his office on the outskirts of Moscow to find out

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about his organisation's involvement in the violence in Marseille.

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Unfortunately for Shprygin,

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it turned out many of the hooligans involved in the violence were flown

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to France on his officially chartered flight.

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Three board members of the ARFA were jailed in France for the Marseille

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violence. One of them is serving two years.

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Shprygin himself was deported,

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and even now he can't conceal a certain pride in the prowess of his countrymen.

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On his return, Shprygin was arrested and his offices raided.

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His apparent connections to the government haven't helped him.

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The ARFA has been shut down.

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With the World Cup on the horizon,

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the Russian authorities have realised that their officially connected

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hooligans need to be dealt with.

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-Finished.

-Finished?

-Finished.

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I followed Dynamo Moscow to Yaroslavl, a small city north-east of Moscow.

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You can see the signs of the new crackdown everywhere,

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including leaflets handed out to fans promising dire consequences for

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anyone stepping out of line.

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It looks like Putin's government has now decided they've had enough of

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football hooliganism.

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But has the Russian man now developed such a taste for violence that they

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can't be stopped?

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Russian men have never had the best reputation.

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They have some of the highest rates of alcohol consumption in the world.

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Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the situation got worse,

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with drinking and drink related violence becoming something of a

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national crisis.

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Life expectancy for men fell from 65 to 57 in just five years.

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But something has begun to change.

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President Vladimir Putin has encouraged the new image of Russian

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masculinity, based around health, combat sports and patriotism.

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Maxim Tatarinov is a professional boxer.

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He's also a football hooligan,

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picked out by one of Dynamo Moscow's main firms to fight with them.

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Hooligans have begun training like Maxim,

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embracing their new identity as a fighter.

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Across Russia, young men are engaging in combat sports like boxing.

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Maxim's new protege is 23-year-old Danila.

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He's currently preparing for his third professional fight.

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Danila's wife, Dasha, is grateful for his fighting skills.

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Football hooligans like Maxim have become an inspiration for many young people.

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And what happened in Marseille is a source of pride.

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Online videos celebrate the hooligans' achievements in France

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as a symbol of a resurgent Russian manhood.

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The Russian government crackdown may be more difficult than they think.

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I need to speak to some of those hooligans involved in Marseille to

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find out if the same violent scenes will be repeated at the World Cup.

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A few days after our meeting, I get a call from Vasily.

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He's invited me to a five-a-side tournament, but with a difference.

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All the teams represent hooligan firms from across Russia.

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But with the police crackdown starting to bite,

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people are nervous about appearing on camera.

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When the active hooligans appear, Vasily is quick to warn me off.

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No, no, no.

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But he does have a suggestion to find some of the Marseille hooligans.

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This is the city of Oryol.

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It's a pretty bleak place,

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mostly flattened during the Second World War.

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It's also the home town of one of Russia's celebrated leaders and heroes,

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a feared murderer and rapist - Ivan the Terrible.

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Oryol hasn't got much going for it.

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Certainly not the football.

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The local team is in the lower half of the Russian third division.

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But their fans consider themselves very much in the Premier League.

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The hooligan firm are known as the Orel Butchers.

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It's hard to believe this lowly team can be the home of some of Russia's

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most violent fans.

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But they are.

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After the game, they agree to talk,

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but only on the condition their identities are disguised.

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Who are the Orel Butchers? What do you stand for?

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It turns out the Butchers were at the centre of the violence in

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Marseille, dressed in black T-shirts.

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The Orel Butchers showed me a memento from their time in Marseille.

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A souvenir from Euro 2016.

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I ask if I can take the flag home with me.

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I'm not sure I'll be taking them up on their offer,

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but I wondered if they'd be looking to attack England fans again at the

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World Cup.

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I was told to speak to the man who led them in France,

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a hooligan and semi-professional mixed martial arts fighter who asked

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to be called Dennis.

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I would say a lot of British guys went over to France, you know,

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to have some fun, to shout around, to throw some glasses.

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To chant the wonderful songs, and that's it.

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And we were quite determined to go there and mess up with the British

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guys, to see where our level is and what they are capable of.

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There is some street fight tactics that we obviously exercised a lot of

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times fighting in cities.

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There's things you do, there's things you don't do.

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And it's important, if you are engaged in a massive fight,

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it's very important that you stick together as a group.

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You go forward as a group, you go backward as a group,

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you only move as a group. So this was, like,

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a mistake that the British fans didn't realise they were doing.

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They were always stranded.

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CHANTING

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It's like 200 professionals fighting 2,000 amateurs.

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Even though they were heavily outnumbered,

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by grouping together and attacking and retreating as a unit,

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they inflicted devastating damage on any England fans unwise enough to

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fight them, or unable to escape.

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I can't say that they lacked the heart,

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but obviously they lacked the skill.

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We always were moving in and out as a group,

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and this is what makes the difference.

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And obviously the personal skill.

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There is that video where that fat guy gets kicked in the face from two

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sides. His guys left him.

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We were coming from the market into the smaller street,

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and these guys left him.

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Let him down, you know? He was kind of getting in,

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and they were supposed to push us backwards as well.

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They were too afraid and they started running backwards, you know?

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Many of the victims in Marseille were viciously attacked again after

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they were knocked down. Something Dennis feels no remorse for.

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I hit the guy in the head.

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Like, if you can imagine a penalty kick.

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I shot a good penalty.

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Did he, did he get back up after that?

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I hope so!

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HE LAUGHS

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Yeah. I must say, he was definitely knocked out, like,

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badly. I must admit,

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there's the first sad, there is, like, one British hooligan,

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he was in coma.

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I was thinking to myself, like, "Shit, I bet that's my guy."

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Because I really, like, hit him properly on his head.

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Are you proud of what you did?

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What I like is that people don't think,

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"Russians, oh, they're drinkers, they're wankers, they're whatever,

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"they're like lazy bums, they are nothing, they are stupid".

0:38:020:38:06

Obviously, I like the fact that I'm Russian and people think, "Oh,

0:38:060:38:09

"these are like the tough guys." Why did we fight?

0:38:090:38:12

Why did we fight the English guys?

0:38:120:38:13

We were seeking honour, seeking pride in the fight.

0:38:130:38:18

What about 2018?

0:38:180:38:20

-Are you looking forward to the World Cup?

-No.

0:38:200:38:23

Absolutely not. What most likely will happen,

0:38:230:38:27

they will just take down all leaders,

0:38:270:38:31

all people who are capable of organising anything,

0:38:310:38:33

and just lock them down.

0:38:330:38:35

Now if you speak about the guys from the older generation,

0:38:350:38:39

we all realise that for us, this will be, like,

0:38:390:38:42

a very, very hard year.

0:38:420:38:45

So British fans won't have anything to fear?

0:38:450:38:48

-HE LAUGHS

-I don't know.

0:38:530:38:55

They can come over and we'll see.

0:38:550:38:57

I mean, somebody will obviously try to do something.

0:38:580:39:03

That is, like, 100%.

0:39:030:39:06

100% guaranteed.

0:39:060:39:08

How would you not get beaten up?

0:39:080:39:11

HE LAUGHS

0:39:110:39:13

How would you not get beaten up?

0:39:150:39:17

That's a good question.

0:39:190:39:20

Well, I don't know. Have family and children around you or, like,

0:39:210:39:26

something. I mean, if you are there with your friend, your male friend,

0:39:260:39:30

you should calculate with getting your ass kicked.

0:39:300:39:33

Dennis was adamant that someone would look to fight at the World Cup

0:39:360:39:40

in Russia.

0:39:400:39:41

Welcome on board.

0:39:410:39:43

If it wasn't going to be the older generation,

0:39:430:39:46

I wanted to see if a younger firm, off the police radar, would look to

0:39:460:39:50

make a statement.

0:39:500:39:51

This is Rostov-on-Don, 600 miles from Moscow.

0:39:580:40:03

It's a host city for the World Cup,

0:40:030:40:06

with a new stadium being built on the banks of the River Don.

0:40:060:40:09

Nearby in a local gym,

0:40:120:40:14

a young firm are also preparing for the tournament to begin.

0:40:140:40:17

They're often involved in prearranged brawls against rival firms.

0:40:220:40:26

They tell me they're auditioning for new members in a uniquely Russian way.

0:40:570:41:03

The wannabe hooligans have to head out of town into the woods and take

0:41:030:41:07

on a rival firm in no holds barred hand-to-hand combat.

0:41:070:41:11

They are known as forest fights.

0:41:140:41:17

Due to the police crackdown,

0:41:190:41:20

the location is kept on a strictly need-to-know basis.

0:41:200:41:24

Are there any rules to these forest fights?

0:41:410:41:44

It's a far cry from the images of drunken English football hooligans

0:41:560:42:00

singing Rule Britannia and throwing plastic chairs at the police.

0:42:000:42:04

It's the night before the forest fight,

0:43:060:43:09

and I've been invited along to spend some time with the firm.

0:43:090:43:12

At a sauna.

0:43:150:43:17

Over fruit, tea and freshly caught crayfish from the River Don,

0:43:410:43:45

the firm bond.

0:43:450:43:46

MUSIC PLAYS

0:44:110:44:14

THEY SING

0:44:140:44:17

It's the day of the fight.

0:44:400:44:42

The firm are worried about security.

0:44:440:44:46

On the outskirts of town, we pick up the group of hopefuls.

0:45:280:45:31

All of them are young, aged between 19 and 20.

0:45:420:45:45

19-year-old Artyom is one of those auditioning for the firm.

0:46:010:46:05

Are you scared of getting hurt?

0:46:170:46:19

Are all your friends fighters?

0:46:420:46:44

20 minutes outside of Rostov,

0:47:160:47:19

we arrive at a dead end leading to a muddy field.

0:47:190:47:22

Some of the older members of the firm I met in the sauna are here.

0:47:350:47:38

They will both coach and judge the newcomers.

0:47:410:47:44

I'm nervous, and unsure what to expect.

0:47:570:48:00

But I'm not the only one.

0:48:000:48:01

There's a mix of fear and excitement in the air as the new recruits go through their preparations.

0:48:230:48:28

For extra motivation, the leaders give them some advice.

0:48:300:48:34

If Artyom and the other fighters impress today,

0:49:230:49:26

they'll be presented with a pin badge or a T-shirt.

0:49:260:49:29

If they become a long-standing member,

0:49:360:49:38

they'll be allowed to get the firm's tattoo.

0:49:380:49:41

We've no clear idea who or what awaits at the end of the path.

0:50:290:50:33

SHOUTING

0:50:430:50:45

SHOUTING

0:50:530:50:55

In a clearing, I see the opposition.

0:50:580:51:00

THEY SHOUT

0:51:030:51:05

Seven young men from a town an hour away from Rostov.

0:51:090:51:13

THEY SHOUT

0:51:190:51:22

SHOUTING

0:51:290:51:31

Artyom gets thrown to the ground, but he doesn't give up.

0:51:470:51:51

Looking round, I can understand why the authorities want to stop these fights.

0:51:550:52:00

In front of me, one of the opposition is being repeatedly kicked in the head.

0:52:260:52:31

Someone could be seriously hurt.

0:52:360:52:38

SCREAMING

0:52:400:52:42

Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!

0:52:460:52:48

MOANING

0:52:540:52:57

APPLAUSE

0:53:040:53:06

I'm in shock at what I've witnessed.

0:53:280:53:31

And surprised and relieved there are no serious injuries.

0:53:330:53:36

-You OK?

-Yeah, yeah.

-You OK?

0:53:440:53:47

Are these guys OK? I just want to check that they're OK.

0:53:470:53:51

You OK?

0:53:570:53:59

-You all right?

-OK, OK, OK.

0:53:590:54:01

Fine, fine.

0:54:010:54:03

Walking back to the Rostov firm,

0:54:030:54:05

I wonder if they will have escaped unharmed.

0:54:050:54:08

Let me look at your hand.

0:54:210:54:23

'Despite being thrown to the ground early on,

0:54:250:54:28

'Artyom has escaped relatively untouched.

0:54:280:54:32

'But having been unable to showcase his skills, he's disappointed.'

0:54:320:54:36

The leaders are matter-of-fact in their analysis.

0:54:450:54:48

He'll have to go through it all again if he's to become a member of the firm.

0:54:480:54:51

Having seen what it takes to become a member of their hooligan firm,

0:55:370:55:41

I wonder why anyone would want to do it.

0:55:410:55:43

But these forest fights aren't just restricted to Rostov.

0:55:430:55:47

They take place all across Russia.

0:55:480:55:50

And aren't just for new members hoping to audition.

0:55:520:55:55

Police crackdowns mean fights that used to happen in town centres

0:55:590:56:03

now happen in the countryside...

0:56:030:56:05

..involving sickening levels of violence,

0:56:080:56:11

with groups of up to 200 or more.

0:56:110:56:13

The young Russian men I've met seem desensitised to the casual brutality

0:56:200:56:24

of these fights.

0:56:240:56:25

The 2018 World Cup in Russia will attract fans from around the world.

0:57:000:57:06

But there's a question as to whether Russia will get the happy and

0:57:060:57:09

harmonious tournament they hope for...

0:57:090:57:11

-ALL:

-Welcome to Russia!

0:57:110:57:13

..and whether the police can contain the hooligans.

0:57:130:57:16

One thing's for sure -

0:57:190:57:21

the reverence held for England fans will always make them a target.

0:57:210:57:25

Here on the banks of the River Don,

0:57:440:57:47

in sight of the new 45,000-seater Rostov Arena,

0:57:470:57:51

the locals are patiently waiting for the tournament to begin.

0:57:510:57:54

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