British police close in on UEFA Cup final rioters

Police hunting dozens of people over riots at last year’s UEFA Cup final have received the names of 29 possible suspects from the public after releasing photographs of the violence, they said Wednesday.

Some 15 police officers were injured and 42 people were arrested after rioting erupted in central Manchester during the showpiece match there last May which saw Russia’s Zenit Saint Petersburg beat Scotland’s Rangers 2-0.

Greater Manchester Police Tuesday released images of 49 rioters and video footage of rioters kicking a policeman on their website in a bid to catch those responsible.

The images were viewed around 66,000 times by members of the public and 90 people got in touch with police to identify those on the video. From this, a total of 29 new names emerged.

“This is a fantastic start to the identity process,” said Detective Superintendent Geoff Wessell, who is leading the investigation.

“However, it is early days and this stage of the operation has a long way to run. We want people to continue looking at these images online and help us put these violent thugs behind bars.”

At the time, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown branded those involved a “disgrace” and said their behaviour threatened to wreck England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.