British Prime Minister denounces fan violence at UEFA Cup final

MANCHESTER, England — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the fan violence that marred the UEFA Cup final as a “disgrace” and expressed concern Thursday that it could harm England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Forty-two people were arrested and 15 police officers injured in clashes in downtown Manchester before and after Russian team Zenit St. Petersburg beat Scottish club Rangers 2-0 on Wednesday night.

The worst violence occurred after the game as hundreds of Rangers fans — described by police as a “pack of baying wolves” — went on the rampage.

An estimated 100,000 Rangers fans — most without tickets — traveled to Manchester from Scotland for the game. Beer and alcohol were on sale all day, and fans were allowed to drink in the street.

A Russian fan was stabbed outside the City of Manchester Stadium before the match, and five people later were arrested. The fan's injuries were described as non life-threatening.

Eleven Rangers fans formally were charged Thursday in connection with the violence — seven with public order offenses, one with assault, one with being drunk at a sports venue and one with throwing an object.

Twelve Rangers fans received cautions that will appear on their criminal records, while another 11 were released on bail pending further investigation. Seven men, including one Russian fan, were released without charge.

“What happened last night was a disgrace,” Brown told reporters at his monthly news conference in London. “It was a minority, but it was completely unacceptable and for that to happen in a public place where the Manchester authorities had made available the facilities for people to enjoy the match.

“They have good reason, both the police and the authorities, to be very angry about what happened.”

Brown has been a key supporter of the Football Association's bid to bring the World Cup back to England for the first time since 1966. FIFA will select the 2018 host country in 2011.

“I want to do everything to avoid us being put in a position where we might be at risk of an application for the 2018 World Cup not being acceptable because of this,” Brown said. “We've got to make sure we deal with problems and deal with them whenever they happen so we are looking at this as a matter of urgency.”

The alcohol-fueled violence is seen as endemic of the binge drinking culture in Britain, an issue high on the domestic political agenda.

“We do have laws that enable us to control drinking in public places where there is a risk of disorder,” Brown said. “We will have to look at these laws for the future.”

The Manchester City Council defended its decision to relax its rules to allow fans to drink alcohol in the street. Bars served alcohol starting at 10 a.m., and local shops selling alcohol opened at 7 a.m — 18 hours before the start of the game.

“Do you really think we were going to stop 100,000-plus Glaswegians wanting to have a drink?” city council leader Richard Leese asked. “It was not possible. Trying to enforce that would have created a public order problem.”

AP Sports Writer Krystyna Rudzki contributed to this report.