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German Police Brings Outside Help to Spot Hooligans

FIFA World Cup 2006 is here and German authorities are concerned that celebrations will be interrupted by soccer hooligans. Germany brought foreign police officers that specialize in tracking soccer hooligans and deployed them across Germany. More than 1.5 million foreign fans are expected to visit Germany during World Cup and special `spotters` will mingle about the vast number of fans in order to spot hooligans.

England is a country were soccer hooligans are a known and common problem. Unlike other countries, England has the legal power to address this problem and England authorities have taken the passports of about 3,300 known troublemakers in order to stop them from reaching Germany. Most countries do not have the legal power to stop violent fans from traveling to Germany and the only way to stop them from inciting violence is to spot them on Germany soil.

Foreign police officers will be looking for known soccer fans that have a violent background and will work to prevent violent incidents. The `spotters` will inform the German police about any possible threats and will let the German police handle the situation.