Russian football supporter Pavel Kosov, previously serving a prison sentence in France, has returned to Russia. This development was reported by Championship.
Kosov arrived on a flight that touched down at Sheremetyevo Airport in the early hours of February 20. He was met by a sizable gathering of active Spartak Moscow supporters who welcomed him on his return.
The events trace back to February 2018 when Kosov and his compatriot Mikhail Ivkin were detained for involvement in the Marseille riots linked to Euro 2016. In 2022, a French jury convicted them of assaulting an England fan after a match between the Russian and English national teams in the group stage of the tournament.
Kosov received a ten year sentence, while Ivkin was sentenced to three years. Time already served during the investigative period was counted toward Ivkin’s term, leading to his deportation back to Russia on January 1, 2021, whereas Kosov continued to serve his sentence in France. It was later announced that Kosov would be evacuated from France in early February 2024.
In related football notes, a former CSKA Moscow coach mentioned a rumor that Alexander Kokorin might have opportunities to play for fourteen of the sixteen Russian Premier League teams.