UEFA Hands Russia Suspended Disqualification From Euro 2016 Tournament ---The New York Times

A fan of Russia’s team, left, clashed with an England fan during a Euro 2016 soccer match between the teams in Marseille, France, on Saturday. CreditPeter Powell/European Pressphoto Agency

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — The Russian soccer federation was fined about $170,000 and given a suspended disqualification from the European Championship on Tuesday as punishment for in-stadium violence by fans, a move that essentially puts the team on the verge of being kicked out of the showpiece Continental tournament.

The penalties were issued by the disciplinary committee of UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, and the decision leaves Russia, which will host the World Cup in 2018, one more episode away from being sent home.

Russia’s disqualification “is suspended until the end of the tournament,” the committee said in a statement. “Such suspension will be lifted if incidents of a similar nature (crowd disturbances) happen inside the stadium at any of the remaining matches of the Russian team during the tournament.”

Russia is scheduled to face Slovakia at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, near the city of Lille, in northern France, on Wednesday, and there will be renewed scrutiny on the behavior of Russian fans.

The punishment came as a result of ugly scenes at the end of Russia’s first match in the tournament, a 1-1 tie with England on Saturday in Marseille.

Russian fans — many of them wearing gloves like those used in mixed martial arts, with shirts or scarves over their faces — streamed into a nearby section of English fans and attacked them just after the final whistle. Fireworks and flares were also set off.

The two sets of fans had clashed multiple times in the days leading up to the match — with a slew of arrests on both sides — but the violence inside the stadium was unexpected, both for its scale and its coordination.

In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman urged Russian fans not to respond to “provocations” and said they should observe the law, The Associated Press reported.

“Violations of the law have been committed by fans from various nations, who have gone on rampages in Marseille and some other places,” the spokesman, Dmitry S. Peskov, said in a conference call. “It’s absolutely unacceptable, and we certainly expect our citizens to respect the country’s laws. Regrettably,” he added, “fans from various nations have taken part in those rampages, regrettably including Russia.”

His comments came after Igor Lebedev, a member of Parliament and the Russian Football Union, which promotes the sport in the country, defended the country’s fans.

“I see nothing wrong with fans fighting,” he said in a series of posts on Twitter. “On the contrary — well done our boys! Keep up the good work.”

Mr. Peskov, however, said the Kremlin disputed that view. “I can’t agree with those statements, and in any case they can’t represent the official viewpoint,” he said, according to The A.P.