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German police watching soccer hooligans
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-14 06:49
Data will be collected centrally and then sent to the police forces in the 16
federal states ahead of each of the 64 matches to allow security arrangements to
be planned locally.
"Beyond that there will be officers who know the scene from Germany and
abroad reporting on the situation in the stadiums," Endler said.
The unit will swell from its current size of 17 members of staff to around
150 in May and will move to Neuss near Duesseldorf in time for the June 9
kickoff.
Endler's unit was created in 1992 to observe the hooligan scene in Germany
because most of the main professional clubs in the country are based in that
region. It began working in collaboration with its counterparts abroad for the
2002 World Cup in Asia and the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal.
Diplomatically, Endler refused to be drawn on which countries' fans were
considered high-risk.
"Wherever we have the potential for violence, we will be informed by the
participating countries shortly before the start of the World Cup. We will then
concentrate on those people," Endler said.
Traditionally, the risk of trouble has come from English, Dutch and German
fans, yet recent reports from Poland suggest a radical hooligan fringe is on the
rise there, a worrying development considering Poland is one of Germany's
neighbours and the two nations have been drawn to play each other in the first
round.
The danger of trouble at the world's biggest sporting event is considerable -
in Germany alone, the police believe around 10,000 football fans are prone to
violence.
And the union of German police officers has warned that many fans from
Germany and abroad will seek to pick fights in the host cities, but often far
from the stadiums.
The 236 giant television screens to be erected around the country, known as
Public Viewing sites, to allow non-ticketholders to see matches are considered
possible flashpoints.
"I know of no precedent in which there have been so many Public Viewing
sites," Endler said.
Nevertheless, he said he was confident that the football would not be
overshadowed by fighting fans.
"I can think of no scenario which would give me
sleepless nights."
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