Uniformed officers have flown to Donetsk, where England play two of their three group matches, to help ensure the tournament goes as smoothly as possible for the fans – and their hosts.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Holt, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers‘ lead on football, says his team will help make sure the England fans are not “over-policed” – or get wrongly blamed for any trouble.
He told Channel 4‘s Keme Nzerem: “We want the Ukrainian authorities… to police England fans on their current behaviour rather than on their past reputation.”
And he revealed his officers are on the lookout for non-English fans committing disorder in England shirts.
He said: “Just because somebody in an England (shirt) is engaging in disorder (it) doesn’t necessarily mean that actually it is an England fan.”