Police prepared for tense encounter between Germany and Poland
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-14 13:56 Thousands of Polish fans are
expected in Dortmund for Wednesday night's World Cup match between Germany and
Poland,and police say they are prepared in case of trouble.
A recent spate of hooliganism in Poland has raised fears of violence from the
country's fans, even if there were no reports of disturbances after their team's
2-0 loss to Ecuador last week.
Authorities say they are confident that Wednesday's tense encounter between
hosts Germany and Poland -once geopolitical rivals, but now common members of
the European Union -will remain peaceful.
"We are well prepared for potentially violent groups traveling to Germany,"
Dortmund's police said in a statement Wednesday. "However, there are no
indications at this time of Polish hooligans arriving."
The threat of hooliganism -particularly English, Dutch and Polish -had been a
theme security forces concentrated on ahead of the tournament, with this first
round fixture, for obvious reasons, appearing one of the most dangerous.
Now, there is not only the two countries' rocky history with one another to
contend with. There also is much at stake in both teams' World Cup campaigns.
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