England fan released by Russia after arrest warrant error

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Trevor Horsley
Image caption,
Former Forest Green chairman Trevor Horsley was arrested in Moscow

An England fan, who was detained for six days in Russia due to an arrest warrant that was issued in error, has returned home.

Trevor Horsley, 63, was arrested at Spartak stadium in Moscow ahead of the match against Colombia on 3 July.

Mr Horsley, a former chairman of Forest Green Rovers Football Club, returned to his Stroud home on Tuesday without having seen any football.

His friends said they were concerned for his health.

Russian media reported that Mr Horsley was wanted for extradition to the United Arab Emirates.

He was released on Monday after Interpol told Russia the criminal case against him had been dropped and the arrest warrant had been issued in error, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

His friends said Mr Horsley was held in a detention centre and then a prison while a request for extradition to Dubai was considered.

'Not ebullient'

His friend and former vice-chair of Forest Green Rovers, Colin Peake, said: "He went out for the game against Colombia, but was arrested going through the turnstiles so he never saw that game. And he was in prison for the game against Sweden."

He said he had spoken to Mr Horsley, who arrived back in the UK on Tuesday morning, and he "was not his usual ebullient self".

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He added that he had tickets for Wednesday's semi-final and for the final on Sunday, but will miss those games as he "just wanted to come home".

"All the money he's spent on tickets and flights and hotels, and he hasn't even watched one minute of football."

Mr Horsley was chairman of Forest Green Rovers between the mid-1990s and 2010 - in several spells - before they entered the Football League, during which time the club won two promotions, appeared in two FA Trophy finals and moved to their current New Lawn ground.