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Portugal is ready for hooligans :: Portugal is taking no chances with next year's European soccer championship. A huge international security operation is grinding into motion in time for the arrival next June of a forecast 1.2 million soccer fans. They will watch 31 games between 16 national teams over three weeks.All police leave has been canceled for the duration. Though there are occasional bad-tempered scuffles between unruly fans at Portuguese soccer games, soccer-related trouble is not seen here on anything like the scale of countries such as England, Germany or the Netherlands. The authorities are buying seven water cannon vehicles -- the country's first -- as well as outfitting the police with new riot gear.Elite police units who earned their spurs in Iraq and 16,000 canisters of pepper spray are also part of Portugal's armory to keep the peace. Portugal is shelling out euro16.6 million ($19 million) on the new equipment .Riot police are the last line of defense when trouble flares. Before that, known foreign hooligans will be prevented from traveling by their country's authorities. Also, Portugal is likely to restore the border controls it scrapped in 1991. A Special Operations Room in Lisbon will include foreign liaison officers, and plainclothes police from Portugal and foreign countries will together keep tags on suspect soccer gangs. Alcohol will likely be banned around stadiums on game days. Even so, Carvalho is aware the police can't stamp out hooliganism completely. So Portugal is making plans for quick deportation procedures. Special courts are to be set up in each of the eight cities hosting games so deportation can be decreed without a right of appeal. |
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Not banned from playing :: A FOOTBALL hooligan banned from every ground in the country played in the FA Cup yesterday.Veli Hakki, 23, was sentenced to two years in jail for hurling concrete blocks at police after a riot which followed Millwall's game with Birmingham 18 months ago. He has now been released on licence and turned out for non-league Borehamwood from Hertfordshire with an electronic tag tucked in his sock. An FA spokesman said there was nothing they could do to stop Hakki playing in the first round tie at Second Division Blackpool. "The ban was to stop him being a spectator," the spokesman said. "There were no restrictions on him playing - it's a loophole." Borehamwood fans backed Hakki. Paul Johnson, 37, said: "When he was involved in the riots, he wasn't playing for us. He's been fantastic and has served his time." Hakki was banned from all football grounds in Britain for six years after he pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to violent disorder. |
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Home fans attacked :: In the lead-up to Tottenham Hotspur's Carling Cup tie with West Ham, supporters went on the rampage in the High Road and surrounding streets.The popular pub for 'home' supporters, The Cockerel at the junction of High Road and White Hart Lane, was allegedly attacked by a gang of West Ham supporters just after 3pm, causing 'extensive damage'.A crowd of 93 West Ham fans were later arrested in Northumberland Park in connection with the attack, and taken to police stations in north and west London. A police spokeswoman said there continued to be skirmishes between rival sets of fans in the vicinity of the High Road during the remaining four hours before kick-off, which were broken up by police in riot gear. Two arrests were made in the stadium and eight people were ejected. |
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Troubles in Greece :: AEK and Olympiakos supporters are known for their rivalry. And once again it all ended up with the use of violence. 150 AEK hooligans attacked a central club of Olympiakos supporters 4 hours before the game. Only 30 Olympiakos supporters were there to defend their club, and one of them, 22 year old guy was stabbed in the chest, and was taken to hospital, and by the reports he remains in a critical condition in hospital as the stab merely missed his heart. Another incident happened 2 hours before the game, when a group of Olympiakos supporters were attacked by home hooligans which used everything they can find as a weapon; flares, sticks, stones etc. Many Olympiakos hooligans arrived on motorbikes, so they had the helmets and could retaliate. But the fight didn't last long because the riot police got there on time and used tear gas to 'clear up the place'. Strangely the worst incident took place inside the stadium, half an hour before the kick-off. Since there is no security fence on sectors, AEK hooligans started invading the pitch. As the police re-grouped and the back-up team was called in, AEK hooligans started throwing stones, ripped-off seats and torches while using metal bars while they were fighting with the police. The exact number of injured fans and policemen is not known, but the numbers are high. :: Football hooligans in battle after derby :: Running battles broke out on city centre streets between football hooligans and police after Aston Villa and Birmingham City drew 0-0 at St Andrews. Riot police working to keep fans apart after the derby found themselves at the receiving end of post-match frustration when supporters of both teams arranged a meet at 5.30pm in the city, according to a source. While they successfully managed to keep Blues and Villa fans apart with the use of a police helicopter and riot vans, officers were involved in two separate clashes. They were confronted by Blues fans around Lancaster Circus and simultaneously engaged in running battles with about 300 Villa fans on Corporation Street, High Street and Dale End. One fan said: "Police were caught in the middle trying to keep fans apart and they succeeded but fans ended up fighting with riot gear police." But the rest of the day passed off with minimum trouble and only four arrests before and during the game which kicked off at noon. |
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