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."