LONDON: American soccer World Cup organizers, determined to prevent hooligans terrorizing next year’s finals, are observing British police tactics for the high Fisk match between England and the Netherlands.
A security taskforce headed by a former FBI chief is spending a week learning how British experts handle, hooliganism as part of a bid to prevent European soccer thugs exporting their violence to the U.S. and undermining the showpiece event.
American law enforcement agencies hope to prevent most hooligans from entering the country next year but are planning for the worst scenario and are Confident they will be ready.
Alan Rothenberg, Chairman of the U.S. World Cup organizers, said in an interview recently: “I think we will put on a very safe “and secure event, our concern is
1 for the 99.9% of peaceful specters and Lo make sure they have a “fantastic experience and not have” it marred by some thugs. The only way we can do that is prepare for the worst and take all the precautionary measures necessary.” Rothenberg said the security taskforce set up last year had been seeking advice from several countries’ police forces on how to deal with hooliganism. “(Unfortunately that seems to have greater resonance in the UK than in other parts of the world. And if ever there would be a match that would be a high tension potential match it would be an important qualifying game between England and Holland.”
English and Dutch fans fought on the streets of Dusseldorf, Germany, during the 1988 European championship and hundreds of riot police were used to quell violent pre match confrontations.
English, Swedish and German fans were also involved in fighting and rioting during last year’s European championship in Sweden, Rothenberg believes the U.S. will be more successful in combating hooliganism than Europe because the Americans aim to keep all fans with criminal records out of the county.
“It is almost impossible to close your borders. If we get right cooperation between our agencies and government and other countries and have information of criminal records available on our computers, they should not be able to get into the country, Rothenberg said. “So I think we can probably do a lot more to safeguard everybody than you can on the European continent. “Stadium security is not unique to us. It’s the difference between spontaneous misbehavior and pre calculated, and the thing that is different for us is that it’s organized mayhem.”
Article extracted from this publication >> May 14, 1993
