Poland expels two Russians for rioting, pitch invasion
(WARSAW) - Poland on Friday ordered the immediate expulsion of two Russian citizens sentenced for rioting and a pitch invasion at Warsaw's National Stadium during the Euro 2012 face-off between Poland and Russia.
"Two Russian Federation citizens have been ordered to leave Poland's territory... The banishment will take place today," Ivetta Bialy, a spokesperson for the Warsaw regional governor said in a statement Friday.
The two men pleaded guilty to charges of taking part in riots which preceded the game and the pitch invasion on Tuesday, Bialy added.
The men will also be blacklisted for five years in the Schengen zone, meaning they will not be able to legally enter the European Union, the statement said.
Russia's high-voltage 1-1 draw with Poland saw police detain 184 hooligans -- 157 of them Poles along with 24 Russians -- as fans clashed with riot police and each other.
On Thursday, courts in the Polish capital meted out the first sentences for the street violence, ranging from fines of 115 euros ($145) to five months behind bars.
Critics have deemed them too lenient, with Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wading into the debate Friday to exhort Polish courts to make those who mar matches with violence feel the full force of the law.
Police in Warsaw were preparing for trouble again Friday as Russian fans flooded into the capital for a key Euro 2012 match with Greece after the worst violence of the championships erupted in the city Tuesday.
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