BERLIN.- Clashes between armed fans. Organized fights between hundreds of fans. Attacks in the early morning hours. Life-threatening injuries. A recent increase in violence related to football matches is compounding security concerns in Germanywhich is preparing to organize the Euro Cup of nations.
“We are preparing for every conceivable danger with high levels of deployment of all security authorities,” said Nancy Faeser, German Interior Minister, adding that the country is preparing for all types of threats, from hooligans to terrorists and cybercriminals. “The police will have a very visible presence.”
Faeser’s ministry confirmed that some 22,000 police officers will be deployed every day for the tournament, with no holidays during the period.
“For the federal police, this is the largest deployment since its founding in 1951,” ministry spokesman Lars Harmsen told The Associated Press.
The German police will be supported by agents from the countries participating in the tournament. Internal border controls have been temporarily reimposed.
CHALLENGE
Euro 2024 will include matches in 10 cities, including four in the densely populated Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area. It will be easy to get to from neighboring countries, with some of the best railways in Europe.
The tournament presents multiple risks of football-related violence, a phenomenon that has grown steadily in Europe since 2021. Last season, a fan in Greece and one in France died in fights.
The season began and ended with clashes between fans, which grabbed the headlines. Even soccer’s bitter rivalries were extrapolated to other sports.
In 2022, British police reported more arrests than in any season since 2013-14. And in 2023, there were more veto orders than at any time since 2010-11, as well as an increase in arrests over last season.
More than 100 police officers in France were injured in football-related crashes during the 2022-23 season. The violence continued the previous campaign, with multiple events, including brawls organized in advance and attacks with stones and other projectiles against vehicles transporting fans.
Among recent clashes, supporters of Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain fought a battle on a stretch of highway last month before the French Cup final.
That same weekend, fans of the Dutch club Utrecht clashed with the police. One officer was hospitalized and others received treatment at the scene of the fight.
Also that weekend, the soccer rivalry spilled over into the EuroLeague basketball finals in Berlin, with coordinated attacks overnight by Olympiakos fans and their Serbian allies Red Star Belgrade against Panathinaikos fans.
Police found several victims bloodied after being beaten with baseball bats. One person suffered life-threatening injuries.
Red Star was not even playing in the tournament and its followers arrived undiscovered.
Source: AP
