Legalise Football Hooliganism Says Russian MP

 

A Russian MP, Igor Lebedev, has proposed an unorthodox solution to the country's problems with football hooliganism ahead of next year's World Cup by calling for it to be legalised and made into a spectator sport.
Igor Lebedev has drawn up rules for what he calls draka, with 20 fighters on each side, unarmed, in an arena. In a statement on the website of the nationalist LDPR party, Lebedev said organized brawls could turn fans' aggression in a peaceful direction.

He also claimed it would serve as an example for English fans, who he characterised as undisciplined louts and poor fighters. He said “Russia would be a pioneer in a new sport, English fans arrive, for example, and start picking fights. And they get the answer challenge accepted. A meeting in a stadium at a set time.”