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Brawls break out after England-Argentina game
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 09:32 PM
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About 1,600 officers were brought into Saint-Etienne in anticipation of problems following the England-Argentina match (AP) |
SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) --
Rival groups of fans brawled into the early morning hours Wednesday, and
local youths broke store windows and damaged cars after Argentina
defeated England on
penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
A number of fans and locals were arrested, but police couldn't say how
many. About 10 people were slightly injured by thrown bottles.
Police closed off much of the town center, and trams and buses were
diverted to avoid further trouble.
On Tuesday afternoon, five French youths who were arrested during
disturbances the previous night were sentenced to prison terms of eight
days to one year.
Earlier Tuesday, French police, aided by a British hooligan-spotter,
arrested an English suspect in a town tense from overnight clashes between
soccer fans and local youths, officials said.
The 25-year-old man head-butted a French policeman as he was arrested with
help from a British officer, who had spotted the fan and alerted local
authorities.
The man, who was not immediately identified, is considered a "category C"
soccer fan, among the most dangerous. He could be deported after a quick
trial.
About 1,600 officers were brought to this city in southeastern France for
the England-Argentina game, played the night after North African French
youths clashed with English fans at an outdoor screening of another World
Cup match.
Authorities stopped showing the Netherlands
-Yugoslavia
game late Monday while violence spread to an area around the stadium, where
the local youths burned several cars.
Police said the violence began when the youths, seeking to avenge
English-Tunisian
clashes after a match in Marseille two weeks earlier, insulted and struck
English fans.
The English fought back and riot police were called in. Nine French youths
were arrested.
Police have arrested more than 700 people and expelled more than a dozen
since the World Cup began June 10 according to the Interior Ministry.
There have been at least 3,200 injuries, most of them not serious, the
ministry says. About 400 people were hospitalized, including a policeman
who beaten into a coma by German neo-Nazis in Lens.
The officer's condition was improving, doctors said Tuesday. Daniel Nivel,
44, was showing signs of gradually coming out of the coma, although doctors
stressed his condition was still critical.
Nivel was hit on the head with an iron bar after a World Cup match between
Germany and
Yugoslavia, when groups of neo-Nazis rampaged through Lens in northern
France.
Two Germans have been placed under formal investigation -- one step short
of being charged -- for attempted murder.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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