ST. PETERSBURG, November 15 (R-Sport) – Lokomotiv Moscow president Olga Smorodskaya says a draft bill that would seek to improve the behavior of the Russia's football fans is too vague.
A seemingly unending stream of incidents to have disrupted games and blighted the country's image forced the government to draft legislation earlier this month toughening sanctions for hooligans.
Smorodskaya, known for her outspoken views in Russian football, acknowledged action was needed but said the wording of the bill was not clear enough.
“I’d say that we need this bill a lot, but it contains too much ambiguous wording,” she said during a public discussion on the issue Wednesday.
“Everything should be written very clearly, so that its application would be correct and everyone understood it.”
The country already has laws on hooliganism but the proposed new rules would introduce fines of up to $200 and ban transgressors from sporting venues for up to a year.
The government wants the law toughened to stem a rise in the number of crimes committed by football fans at Russian stadiums over the past year, as reported by the country's top public order official Yuri Demidov in August.
In September, a Russian Cup match between the Moscow city rivals Torpedo and Dynamo being called off after the fans repeatedly hurled firecrackers onto the pitch.
Before that, a group of Moscow fans tried to disrupt a Europa League match between Anzhi and AZ Alkmaar held in the Russian capital by throwing flares on the pitch and racially abusing the team from the Caucasus province.
Smorodskaya called for the introduction of incrementally tougher punishments for repeat offenders.
“For the first time, it should be just a rebuke or a fine, and for regular abusers there should be gradation: first, a ban for one month, then half a year and later for longer periods."
She also insisted upon the regulation of police excesses in trying to rein in the hooligans.
“Not only should the fans should behave, but police too. We certainly want mutual responsibility.”
The bill was met with criticism by fan clubs, who stated that it will scare away the few remaining supporters who visit stadiums on match days.
The bill must go through three parliamentary readings before it can be signed into law. The government predicts it could come into force by January 1.
