Polish and German security officials teamed up on Thursday for an exercise in subduing aggressive, unruly Polish football fans, many of whom are expected to try to cross into Germany for this summer’s World Cup.
As dozens of Polish border guards in riot gear stormed a bus at the western Polish border town of Lubieszyn, packed with their colleagues, who were realistically playing the role of rowdy, chanting fans, German police blocked the road — all under the watchful gaze of commanders from both countries.
”The conditions of this exercise were very close to what we would expect in real life,” said Jacek Ogrodowicz, a spokesperson for the Polish border guard.
”The ‘fans’ were very aggressive and real force had to be used to subdue them. We hope we won’t have to do it for real.”
Ogrodowicz declined to comment on reports in the German press that Polish hooligans are planning to cause mayhem at the World Cup, which runs from June 9 to July 9.
Germany face Poland in a first-round match in Dortmund on June 14.
A pre-arranged mass brawl last November between German and Polish hooligans in a forest on the countries’ border has heightened fears of trouble at the finals.
So, too, has Polish hooligans’ reputation for violence: in March a 21-year-old man was stabbed to death in a clash between supporters of two clubs in the southern city of Krakow.
A Polish anti-fascist group said hooligans from Poland want to cause chaos in the spotlight of the world’s media.
”A large group of Polish hooligans is preparing to travel to Germany,” Marcin Kornak of the Nigdy Wiecej (Never Again) group which campaigns against fascism and against racism in football, told Agence France-Presse earlier this month.
”Already they’re organising, preparing for the World Cup, to confront hooligans from other countries.” — AFP
