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Will hooligans brawl for title?
French worried German, English fans will fight in Lens
Posted: Wednesday June 24, 1998 04:09 PM
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Many hooligans have been sent back home, but there are fears that Lens could be a battleground on Friday (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- Authorities fear a new and ugly turn in World Cup
violence: German toughs battling English fans for the reputation as
Europe's worst hooligans. Violence has shaken and tainted the
five-week soccer championship since it began June 10, with clashes outside
stadiums leaving more than 100 injured, a policeman in a coma and an
English fan in critical condition. French authorities, backed by
police from the countries in the World Cup, have cracked down on the
unrest, arresting more than 250 and deporting a number of English and
German rowdies. But with 2 1/2 weeks left, police fear more violence.
The next expected hotspots are the Germany-Iran match in the
southern city of Montpellier on Thursday, and England vs. Colombia in
the northern city of Lens on Friday. German toughs, like the ones
that beat the policeman into a coma in Lens over the weekend, appear ready
to strike again. This time, German extremists would be in Lens
Friday "to combat the English enemy and try to gain the title of `best
hooligans of Europe,'" Wednesday's Le Monde newspaper quoted a
French intelligence memo to the Interior Ministry as saying. The
ministry had no comment on the report, but a ministry source privately
confirmed the hundreds of policemen deployed for the match were alerted
about the possibility of German-English clashes. German authorities
said Wednesday they had stepped up checks of France-bound
motorists by boosting their border police force from about 200 to more than
1,000. As in some of the other 10 French cities staging Cup games,
Lens on Wednesday announced alcohol restrictions for the match. Officials
banned alcohol sale or possession on the streets from 6 p.m. Friday to 8
a.m. Saturday. Five hundred additional policemen will beef up
security to 1,200 officers Friday, along with about 100 in plainclothes. As
at other matches, thousands of fans were coming without tickets -- at least
10,000 English on Friday -- raising concerns of more drunken unrest.
Most of the dozen German policemen working in France as hooligan-spotters
were being deployed in Lens. They are among 180 officers from the 32
nations in the World Cup, with the largest contingent of 25 from England
helping to watch or detain so-called "category C" soccer fans with a track
record of violence, Le Monde said. Authorities also were
concerned about more violence by French North African youths who first
became involved in clashes with English fans in Marseille two weeks ago.
Similar violence erupted Monday after the England-Romania match
in Toulouse, where police arrested a dozen of the youths who carried
baseball bats. An English fan was attacked, and remained in
intensive care Wednesday. The status of Steven James Clarke, 38, of
Stourbridge, West Midlands, was "more reassuring," a hospital statement
said. President Jacques Chirac sought to put in perspective the
unrest by a few hundred toughs at an event drawing 1 million largely
sportsmanlike foreigners. "Even if there were dramatic incidents ...
the incidents were relatively limited compared to what was feared," he told
French television. "I hope the justice system will work with the greatest
firmness."
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