World Cup and outbreak of supporter violence link Brazil and Russia

In six months' time the World Cup will land in the home of joga bonito clad in a Fifa-approved wrapping of sun, sea and

samba. But the dark side of the beautiful game in Brazil was in evidence earlier this month, when images of running battles

between fans of Atletico Paranaense and Vasco da Gama shocked the watching world.

The game was being held at a neutral ground in Joinville due to previous clashes between fans of the two clubs, but within

10 minutes Globo was broadcasting close-up footage of supporters repeatedly stamping on the heads of their rivals and

chasing one another around the stadium bowl.

Following a long interregnum, the fighting was eventually broken up by armed security firing rubber bullets into the crowds

and an army helicopter landing on the pitch, but not before several fans were seriously injured.

Aldo Rebelo, the erratic Brazilian sports minister who is also battling to make sure the stadiums due to host the World Cup

are ready on time amid a spate of deaths among construction workers, has promised a crackdown. "Whoever commits the kind of

violence we saw should be detained forthwith. It constitutes attempted homicide," he said this week.

But while the brutal scenes may have been beamed around the world due to the game's proximity to the World Cup draw, this

was no isolated example.

Four years after the World Cup comes to Brazil, Russia will host football's global showpiece. Last month, Spartak Moscow

fans went on the rampage, resulting in 78 arrests and the imposition of tough new laws from next month.

Again, this was just one example among many as a toxic brew of nationalism, club loyalty, far-right ideology and alcohol

explodes into violence on a regular basis. The country's leading sports newspaper, Sport Express, warned that if the

violence was allowed to carry on unchecked it would mean "the end of football in our country".

In Russia, too, there are growing concerns about the endemic nature of football violence and its links to organised crime

and right-wing groups. Those fears are replicated across much of eastern Europe, and to some observers are underpinned by a

dangerous ideology.

"The big thing we've observed over the last two years has been the rise of the far right in football," says Piara Powar,

executive director of the European anti-discrimination network Fare. "They've always had a significant hold over young

people and young football fans. But it's become more organised and more frequent. More banners, more chants, more of a

direct link." Banners pledging solidarity with the Greek far-right party Golden Dawn have been spotted throughout eastern

Europe.