Hundreds arrested by police

2006-06-15 15:35

Dortmund - Police on Thursday said they had arrested 429 people here overnight after German hooligans sparked fighting before the World Cup match between Germany and Poland.

A police spokesperson said 33 people were lightly injured in the fighting that spelled the end of a five trouble-free days at the World Cup, including a policeman who was bitten in the leg by a supporter.

He said the arrests included 278 Germans and 119 Poles, and that more than a hundred were hooligans already known to the police.

By Thursday morning, all but three of the trouble-makers had been released, though 96 were expected to face charges. The police were planning to hear testimony from people who were hurt or suffered damage to property.

The Germany v Poland match, which the hosts won 1-0, had been seen by organisers as a security risk because of clashes last year between hooligans from the neighbouring countries.

But the violence on Wednesday night pitted German and Polish hooligans against the police rather than each other.

At one point 148 Germans, most of them drunk, threw bottles and chairs at police as they tried to move fans out of the centre of the city. Riot police then chased several dozen fans through the city.

A police spokesperson said the fans had played "cat and mouse" with police.

List of known Polish hooligans

Some of the Poles were carrying potentially dangerous items while others were on a list of known Polish hooligans.

The vice-president of the World Cup Organising Committee, Wolfgang Niersbach, said 30 Polish hooligans were detained as they were sitting in a bus after police had received intelligence from Polish officers.

Niersbach said he deeply regretted that the incidents had taken place ahead of a match attended by Daniel Nivel, the French riot policeman left brain-damaged in a savage attack by German thugs at a 1998 World Cup match in Lens, France.

Fifa spokesperson Markus Siegler said the world governing body was "absolutely disgusted" by the incidents in Dortmund, but said it had "full confidence in the security plan".

"I believe the Germans and their authorities have proved they are on top of the crowd control and they controlled the situation very quickly."

England's once notorious fans were praised by police for their behaviour in Frankfurt on Saturday, but thousands of officers were on the streets of the former Nazi stronghold of Nuremberg for England's match against Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday. - Sapa

- SAPA