Posted on 06/09/2002 9:14:09 PM PDT by Partisan Hack
MOSCOW, June 9 (UPI) -- One person was stabbed to death and a police officer was injured after scores of unruly soccer fans rioted Sunday when their team lost 1-0 to Japan in a World Cup game.
As the game ended, an estimated 10,000 fans in Manezh Square went wild in an ugly display of violence, smashing shop windows, setting cars ablaze, including a van owned by the state-run RTR television network, and engaging in fistfights. Scores of spectators were injured. One fan knocked down several people with his car, Russian television reported.
The person stabbed to death was found in a car parked near the Interior Ministry building, according to reports. Police officials would not confirm that the man had been stabbed during fights that broke out after the game ended.
Hooligans smashed windows at Russia's lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, which is near Manezh Square. The mayhem continued as fans raided a nearby Japanese restaurant, smashing windows and destroying property.
Moscow's riot police force restored order after threatening the mob with pistols and submachine guns.
On the eve of Sunday's game, the Japanese Embassy advised citizens living in the Russian capital to stay indoors Sunday to avoid ethnically related incidents.
Russia defeated underdogs Tunis 2-0 earlier in the week, fueling supporters' hopes that their team might advance to final rounds. Russia last appeared in the World Cup eight years ago, losing to the United States.
Sunday's game ended in a Russian defeat after the team conceded a single goal scored by Japanese mid-fielder Inamoto in the 51st minute. Russia had fair prospects of snatching at least a draw, but its forwards squandered several goal-scoring chances, which upset fans.
Attacks against foreigners have been on the rise in Russia recently, prompting lawmakers to pass new legislation on extremism. A crowd clubbed an Azeri man to death in Moscow Friday, sparking mass protests from the Azeri community.
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