Soccer 'hooligans' arrested
2006-06-10 08:55
Berlin - German police said on Saturday
they arrested more than 20 soccer fans - most of them German
and English - amid violence overnight in the city of Frankfurt
following the World Cup opening matches.
Three German and three English fans were taken in after a
brawl close to the city's central station.
"After suspected English hooligans thrashed the chairs and
tables outside a restaurant ... a serious fight kicked off
between the English hooligans and the German bouncers of the
bar," Frankfurt police said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Frankfurt police said they had also arrested
15 people in another part of the city following brawling in a
restaurant.
Among them were five Germans, one English and two
Polish fans.
In a third incident in the region four more people were
taken in, two of them German, the spokesperson added.
About 30 000 England fans are expected to descend upon
Germany's fifth largest city on Saturday for their team's match
against Paraguay.
On Friday night, England and German fans taunted each other
in an hour-long stand off on a central square in Frankfurt
following the host nation's 4-2 win in the opening game against
Costa Rica.
Police kept the two sides apart.
Following violence at previous tournaments, the English are
trying to show that they have cleaned up their act.
Most of those arrested were freed in the early morning after
paying fines, police added.
- Reuters