Hooligans 'attacked English-speaking fans'

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Reports emerged yesterday that foreign football fans, specifically groups speaking Russian and English, had been attacked by Polish hooligans in a bar in the central city of Lodz.

The reports said that around 50 hooligans had attacked the fans as they drank on Thursday evening. Witnesses were reported to have said that a car, driven by masked men, had pulled up at the pub and that the masked men had then attacked anyone in sight, throwing punches and kicks. The attackers were described as young men wearing the colours of LKS Lodz.

"When they started to hit out, we fled inside," a Polish victim was reported to have said. "We barricaded the entrance. Some of us remained outside, and they got the brunt of the attack."

Two pubgoers were injured. Another witness was quoted as saying: "They forced two younger men to the ground, with multiple attackers starting to punch and kick them. It was a horrible sight. I fumbled for my phone and called the police.

"They [the men] were lying motionless on the pavement. I thought they were dead. After a couple of minutes, one of them started to get up, and then the second. I was very relieved."

The drinkers who were attacked were reported to have been talking and chanting in Russian and English.

Lodz, which is within reach of Warsaw and Poznan, which are hosting matches in Euro 2012, is proving popular as a place for foreign fans to stay during the tournament.