SINGAPORE — When Mr Nilesh Pritam made his way to the Stade Velodrome in Marseille last Saturday for the Euro 2016 Group B game between England and Russia, one of the first unsettling things he noticed was the splatter of bloodstains on the stadium floor.

Not long after, the 41-year-old Singaporean was even more alarmed as he saw several men with bloodied noses and faces walking around as they either went to clean themselves or seek medical attention.

These were just some of the unsettling scenes that remain seared in Mr Nilesh’s memory two days after the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

The match made headlines not just for the scenes of fighting between England and Russia fans in the streets of Marseille before the game, but also for the bloody clashes that erupted in the stadium after the final whistle. According to French police, 35 people have been arrested while European football governing body Uefa has threatened the football associations of England and Russia with explusion from the tournament if there is any further violence from their fans.

However, Mr Nilesh, who is in France to catch the tournament with three other Singaporean friends, felt that the inadequate security measures at the Stade Velodrome also played a major part in the chaos that ensued after the game.

“When we were about to enter the stadium, we already sensed that the atmosphere was tense and hostile,” recalled the public relations executive in a phone interview with TODAY.

“We had a feeling that trouble was brewing. So, as a precaution, two of my friends decided to change out of their England jerseys.”

What surprised him was the absence of metal detectors at the entrances to the stadium. He also noticed that police presence, while strong around the stadium, was conspicuously absent inside it.

“There were a lot of policemen outside the stadium but once you were inside, the only security officials were the stadium stewards, many of whom are volunteers,” Mr Nilesh told TODAY. “There were also no metal detectors. Instead, the only security procedure that we went through was a brief pat-down by the stewards. Overall, we thought the stadium security was quite lax. As a result, my friends and I felt apprehensive when we entered the venue and we remained extra vigilant about our surroundings, especially with the tension in the air between the English and Russian fans.”

As it turned out, Mr Nilesh was right to be concerned about the Stade Velodrome’s security measures. In the dying minutes of the match, Russian fans stormed the area where their English counterparts were based, resulting in a clash that left at least 35 people injured. Russian fans also launched a flare towards the sections housing English fans, while several pyrotechnic devices were also reportedly ignited.

While Mr Nilesh was seated a safe distance away from the thick of the action, he still had a clear view of the bedlam that rapidly unfolded and saw how “powerless” the security stewards were to stop the fan violence.

“The whole situation was chaotic,” said Mr Nilesh. “The stewards were hopelessly outnumbered and could not do anything to stop the clashes. We could see Russian fans pulling back the barriers separating the two groups of supporters, and I also saw someone fire a flare from the Russian end. One of the images that stuck with me from the whole chaos was that of a father holding his 10-year-old son tightly and shielding him from the violence around them.” His friends and him were also horrified to see people with their faces covered in blood running away.

Mr Nilesh and his group decided to stay in their seats for about 10 minutes until the troubled section was cleared out before they finally left. They also noticed that the situation outside the stadium was more controlled and organised, with armed police patrolling the area.

“Once you get out of the stadium, there were a lot of armed police patrolling the area,” said Mr Nilesh, who will watch Germany take on Poland on Friday before returning to Singapore.

“So things were a lot calmer outside and we didn’t see any clashes. But we still decided to take the longer route back to our hotel just in case. We will remain extra vigilant when we watch our final game.”