Foreign students beaten by Zenit fans

A group of Russian soccer fans attacked several foreign students in St. Petersburg Thursday night, mistaking them for supporters of French Marseille that played against Zenit in the UEFA qualifier for the UEFA Cup, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Inside a metro station at the center of the city, over ten tough guys approved to be Zenit fans attacked the group of Pakistani, Jordanian and Israeli students.

The Russian fans could not make out what the foreigners said for poor Russian when they asked if they were French nationals. Then they attacked the foreigners and beat them up.

Local police said the foreigners were not seriously injured in the incident, and none of them needed hospital treatment. An inquiry into the incident and search for the Russian rascals continued.

After the game police detained around sixty fans for violation of public order and drinking alcohol in a public place. One of the fans detained was charged with theft of a mobile telephone. Zenit St Petersburg qualified for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals 2-1 on aggregate following the 1-1 draw at home to Marseille.

Source: Xinhua