English Football Association security advisor Sir Brian Hayes quickly condemned the violence by English fans in Marseille last night.
"You have seen the situation here tonight, this has got very little to do with football," he said. "This is drunkenness, this is hooliganism, there has been brawling breaking out between the English fans and local Arab youth. The Tunisians, I understand have not been involved.
"We can condemn it absolutely, I condemn it, so does the Football Association, it's caused a lot of damage. The French police have reacted with reasonable calm, they've gone in quite hard at times because they've been subjected to violence.
"I want to say that despite the damage these are a tiny minority, we've sold over 7,000 tickets for this game, there are several hundred people who are causing trouble. It is totally condemned, these people have to learn to behave themselves when they drink. They've obviously been unable to do that."
Asked if England should pull out of the tournament, he said: "That's absolute rubbish, the England team have been training for years, they've qualified, they're here as of right, this is nothing to do with football, this is just sheer hooliganism and drunkenness."
Asked if the people of Toulouse and Lens, where England play next, should have to put up with it, he said: "Nobody should have to put up with this, we don't want it, this is the worst of English behaviour, the people that have been involved in this are an absolute national disgrace."
About 10,000 England fans, many without tickets, were expected to flood into Marseille for today's match and there were at least six touts offering tickets to fans arriving at the city station last night.
Police director Daniel Herbst said there would be 2,200 officers on duty for the match with about 160 anti-riot squad officers ready to intervene.
English police spotters are working alongside French officers in the streets of Marseille monitoring the movements of known hooligans.
"Their mission is to identify the most dangerous fans and call in the French police to intervene if necessary," Herbst said.
