Neil Humphreys: If hooligans continue, Uefa must send their teams home
If thugs can't stop fighting, Uefa must be bold and send England and Russia home
England could, and probably should, be kicked out of Euro 2016.
That's not a speculative opinion, but a statement based on tournament regulations and historical precedent.
If the thugs continue fighting in the bloody name of the Three Lions, then Uefa finds itself in the unenviable position of sanctioning and perhaps ejecting one of the richest and most popular nations in world football.
Four nights of wanton violence, property destruction and provocative intimidation have already succeeded in overshadowing the football.
The hooligans' fists of drunken fury in Marseille are winning the war of words in the media. Their front-page stories overwhelm back-page match reports.
But if the street fighting does not stop, Uefa is compelled to intervene and take unprecedented measures.
After the distressing scenes at Charleroi and Brussels in Euro 2000, Uefa vowed to throw England out of the tournament if the "disease" continued to spread.
The Three Lions did the job for Uefa, going out of Euro 2000 early.
But Uefa's threat remained: Bring back the hooligans and England would be sent home.
Now the world is watching not only the sunburned, tattooed knuckle-scrapers singing songs about the Parisian terror attacks, but also Uefa.
According to Euro 2016 tournament regulations, the English Football Association and Uefa are duty-bound to take action, along with Russia's football authorities, and potentially boot out both nations if the violence doesn't stop.
And it won't.
England's close proximity to France ensures that the bars are just a cheap train or ferry ride away, whereas the World Cup in Brazil priced the average yob out of the tournament.
Like the '98 World Cup and Euro 2000, Euro 2016 represents an affordable opportunity too good to miss for the belligerent minorities from both Russia and England determined to wreak havoc.
Eyewitness reports, along with certain sections of the British media not willing to antagonise their audience or advertisers, have been eager to downplay the role of English fans.
On the third day, Russian gangs, wearing black masks, ambushed English supporters outside Marseille bars, sparking a full day of fighting that spilled over into the stadium yesterday morning (Singapore time).
The Russians were, quite rightly, blamed.
But so were the French police, accused of strong-arm tactics. The late England-Russia kick-off was also blamed, leading to a full day of uninterrupted drinking. French locals were blamed for retaliating and throwing glass bottles.
BLAME WHO?
Euro 2016 was blamed for staging the game in Marseille, the home of the local ultras and location of the infamous riot at the '98 World Cup.
Even the draw was blamed for putting England and Russia in the same group, two countries renowned for their hooliganism.
The excuses are puerile, resorting to the "he did it, too, sir" line of defence usually found in kindergartens.
After four days of street fights, the common denominator throughout is England, where an idiotic minority still believe that a visiting city cannot be simply visited and enjoyed. It must be annexed.
Town squares are essentially occupied, with flags slapped across expat bars and windows and offensive and racist songs screamed at locals crossing the road to avoid the drunken aggression.
With or without the violence, this archaic behaviour is apparent at almost every tournament involving England, particularly in Europe.
The constant presence of an unsettling fuse in search of a spark is as tedious as it is predictable.
The French authorities, tasked with the thankless job of monitoring terrorism threats and bomb scares, have little patience for red-faced drunks singing nasty songs about the Paris terror attacks and why should they?
The English, and the Russians for that matter, will continue to apportion blame on everyone else, without fully acknowledging the archaic, imperialistic mindset within their respective cultures that allows hooliganism to persist.
If the violence continues, kick the countries out.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now