Russians will have to show identification if they want to buy tickets for sporting events in the future after the country’s authorities pledged to take steps to preventing a repeat of the crowd violence that took place at the Uefa Euro 2016 football tournament.
The new law, signed off by President Vladimir Putin, will also allow the Interior Ministry to create a publicly-available blacklist of fans who are banned from attending events.
The move comes after three Russians last month received prison sentences for hooliganism in France during Euro 2016, while 20 were deported. The involvement of many Russians in the violence on display both inside and outside stadia in France is of particular concern as Russia is to host the Fifa World Cup in 2018.
Before the introduction of the new legislation, Russians were able to buy tickets for sporting events without any need for identification, such as a domestic passport.
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