Hooligan fears overshadow the 2024 European Championship. The German police are facing their biggest operation ever – WWLP

BERLIN (AP) — Clashes between armed fans. Organized fights between hundreds of supporters. Late-night attacks. Life-threatening injuries.

A recent rise in violence around football matches is adding to security concerns as Germany hosts the European Championships.

“We are preparing for all conceivable dangers with a high level of commitment from all security authorities,” said Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser. The country is preparing for all possible threats, from hooligans to terrorists to cyber criminals. “The police will have a very visible presence,” she said.

Faeser’s ministry confirmed that around 22,000 police officers will be on duty every day during the tournament and that no holidays are planned.

“For the Federal Police, this is the largest operation since its founding in 1951,” ministry spokesman Lars Harmsen told the Associated Press.

The German police are being supported by police officers from the countries participating in the tournament and controls at the internal borders have already been temporarily reintroduced.

A huge challenge

At the 2024 European Championship, matches will be played in ten cities, including four in the densely populated Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region – which is easily accessible from neighboring countries via some of the best rail connections in Europe.

The tournament provides numerous opportunities for football-related violence, which has been steadily increasing across Europe since 2021. Last season, one fan in Greece and one in France were killed in fights. The season began and ended with high-profile clashes and even led to intense football rivalries spilling over into other sports.

British police reported more arrests in 2022 than in any other season since 2013/14 and more stadium bans in 2023 than at any other time since 2010/11. They also said they made more arrests than in the season before. In France, more than 100 police officers were injured in football-related incidents during the 2022/23 season. Violence continued last season with several incidents, including planned fights and objects being thrown at buses carrying fans.

Recent incidents include an open brawl between rivals Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain at a motorway service station before the French Cup final last month.

That same weekend, violent clashes broke out between fans of the Dutch club Utrecht and the police. One officer had to be treated in hospital, the others were treated on site.

This weekend, the soccer rivalry spilled over into the basketball EuroLeague final in Berlin, as Olympiakos fans and Serbian allies of Red Star Belgrade launched coordinated late-night attacks against supporters of Olympiakos’ Greek rival Panathinaikos. When police arrived, they found bloodied men, many injured by baseball bats and batons, one in critical condition. Red Star was not even participating in the tournament and arrived undetected.

Growing alliances

Alliances between hooligan groups are one of the dangers facing German authorities at the 2024 European Championship. Rivalries between clubs from different countries, which spill over into the international arena, make it difficult to identify and control troublemakers.

Italian ultras from Atalanta joined Eintracht Frankfurt fans to fight against Napoli supporters before a Champions League match. The Atalanta fans helped the Eintracht fans to circumvent a travel ban and enter Italy via a club ally in Calabria.

The season began with the death of a fan in Athens after violent clashes between supporters of Greek club AEK and Croatian team Dinamo Zagreb before a Champions League qualifier. Dinamo fans were joined by supporters of Panathinaikos, an arch-rival of AEK, underlining the dangerous alliances.

“Hooligan groups that are looking to fight are much better organized than they used to be,” German football researcher and author Christoph Wagner told AP. “Red Star playing Olympiacos, that’s not something people have on their monitors.”

High risk games

England’s match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on 16 June is a special event as both fan groups have a history of national and international violence.

Euro 2016 in France was marred by violence when Russian hooligans went around Marseille attacking English fans. Many well-known English hooligans were absent as over 2,000 of them had been banned from travelling. However, many of these bans will have expired before Euro 2024.

One factor could be Gelsenkirchen’s location in the Rhine-Ruhr region. Fans who stay overnight in Cologne can reach Gelsenkirchen within an hour. Fans who stay overnight in Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Essen or Duisburg and can travel by car are even closer.

The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday, citing German police intelligence, that up to 500 Serbian hooligans were expected to arrive.

Other high-risk games concern Poland, Croatia, Romania, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

Hooligans from Poland are among the most violent in Europe. Last November, police arrested 46 Legia Warsaw fans before a Europa Conference League match against Aston Villa. Four police officers were injured.

German clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt or Schalke 04 from Gelsenkirchen may seek confrontation when teams play in their city.

Tensions with the police

Rival hooligan groups have a common enemy – the police. Around 155 police officers were injured in clashes with supporters of Dynamo Berlin and Energie Cottbus last month. Most of the injuries were caused by tear gas, suggesting that the police struggled to control the situation.

During the riots with Utrecht fans, the police drove towards the fans in a van to disperse them.

“You would think that a police force with more resources would actually step back,” Wagner said, adding that police are not always accountable and sometimes take IDs before getting involved in clashes.

It is easier to avoid fights with the police the night before games or very early in the morning. In May, a fight broke out in Gelsenkirchen between 200 Schalke and Hansa Rostock supporters before 6 a.m.

Monetization of violence

It seems as if there is a market of its own for violence in football.

Some people who film fights post their footage on the Internet, and there are special social networks dedicated exclusively to broadcasting these films.

There is also a hooligan video game. “Immerse yourself in the world of street football hooligans and epic battles,” it promises.

Hooligans can buy a T-shirt with the logo “Euro 2024, Festival of Violence,” and an Instagram account that tracks hooligan fights promises to report “events outside the stadium.”

___

Pugmire reported from Paris.

___

AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer