Season 09/10 - March

Egypt : El Masry - Al Ahly - 10/03/2010

Source : reuters

Scotland: How sectarian hooligans are killing off Scots far-right - 14/03/2010

Source: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/how-sectarian-hooligans-are-killing-off-scots-far-right-1.1013146

Sectarianism lies behind the failure of the far-right Scottish Defence League to garner any public support in Scotland, its critics have claimed.

Opponents of the anti-Islam group said that it was finished north of the border and cited religious bigotry as one of the main factors behind its failure.

With the organisation apparently in meltdown, the Sunday Herald can reveal the group has only 25 members. Less than 100 SDL supporters attended a recent rally in Edinburgh where they were outnumbered by a coalition of more than 2,000 anti-fascists.

The rally was only the second time they had protested north of the border, and the low turn-out was in stark contrast to the English Defence League, which attracted more than 1,500 people to its last event in Stoke.

Amid allegations that some members were police informers, the SDL closed its Facebook page after the capital rally and directed supporters to a members-only website with strict instructions that anyone wishing to join must be known by at least two people in the SDL.

The SDL previously claimed it had 800 supporters but the new site lists only 25 members. One member called Mark1690 uses a picture of King William of Orange on a white horse while another uses the moniker God Save Our Queen. The site has a video of Enoch Powell giving his infamous Rivers of Blood speech in 1968.

In England, the core of the English Defence League is football hooligan firms who have called an unprecedented nationwide truce to support the movement, but in Scotland this collective agreement has failed to materialise.

The Sunday Herald has learned that casuals who follow Hibernian and Celtic football clubs planned to attack the SDL in Edinburgh because it is made up mainly of protestant Rangers and Hearts football fans.

Members of the Capital City Service, a hooligan group that attaches itself to Hibernian, said Celtic fans had contacted them in advance of the SDL demo and asked to join together. “We were already making our own plans to ambush the SDL. The CCS would never support the SDL,” a CCS member said.

Luke Henderson, of Unite Against Fascism, said sectarianism had undoubtedly played a major part in denting support for the SDL. “The Scottish disease [sectarianism] meant that many football casuals refused to support a right-wing SDL comprising mainly of Rangers fans. There has also been a mass mobilisation against the SDL from the outset in Scotland and we have built a strong activist base.”

David Miller, Professor of Sociology at the University of Strathclyde and founder of the politics website Spinwatch, said that the failure of the SDL to garner support also reflected the political landscape in Scotland.

He said: “I think it is related to the more consensual approach of the political parties in Scotland. The political class in England has not been as united against the EDL. The sight of Tory Annabel Goldie addressing an anti-racist demonstration on Glasgow Green is one obvious contrast.

“Those associated with the David Cameron leadership in London, especially think-tanks like the Policy Exchange and the Centre for Social Cohesion, have been at the forefront of Muslim baiting and have limited the chances of a common response. There is also more support for the British National Party in England.”

Spinwatch revealed recently that some SDL leaders were members of the British National Party, but this claim was denied by the group.

Casuals United, a nationwide umbrella group of football casuals that supports the English, Scottish and Welsh Defence Leagues, admitted that it had not been possible to unite hooligan “firms” north of the border.

“The Scottish football lads seem unable to forget their differences and cannot get past the sectarian divide. We are speaking to various Scottish firms, trying to unite them, and we will not give up,” said Mickey Smith, a hooligan with Cardiff City’s Soul Crew, and spokesman for Casuals United. His colleague Jeff Marsh, founder of both Casuals United and the Welsh Defence League, was sentenced last week for causing an affray and possessing an offensive weapon.

Marsh pleaded guilty and was given a four-month suspended jail term, 150 hours’ community service and ordered to pay £600 costs. He was also banned from football matches for five years.

Marsh was arrested in Cardiff last summer after attacking Celtic fans who had travelled for a friendly match with Cardiff City.

What remains of the SDL remains defiant, however, and the group claimed to have held a small vigil in Lockerbie last week. The meeting had been scheduled for March 27 in response to Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi but was brought forward.

An SDL spokesman said: “The reason we changed the date was simple, we had no interest in bringing disorder and the red fascist circus to this lovely Scottish town.

“We wanted to remember those who were murdered [in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103] with dignity and without left-wing fascists charging around the town looking for confrontation.”

It was also claimed that EDL supporters were in discussions about visiting Northern Ireland for the annual July 12 Orange parades. The claim was made by the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, but denied by Alan Lake, an EDL leader in London, who said he had no knowledge of a Northern Ireland connection.

A spokesman for the Orange Order said anyone intent on violence should not travel to parades in Northern Ireland.

“Our parades celebrate our culture and tradition and are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people across Northern Ireland. Anyone who wishes to attend these parades for other reasons than to celebrate Orangeism is not welcome,” he said.

The Rangers Worldwide Alliance, an official global network of supporters clubs, was contacted but declined to comment.

Paris SG - FC Sochaux - 13/03/2010

Source : brownsvilleherald.com + le Parisien newspaper

Security was high outside Parc des Princes ahead of PSG's match after violent clashes before the previous home game against Marseille two weeks ago, when brutal street battles between rival PSG fans left one fan fighting for his life in a coma. Sections of PSG's support from the Tribune d'Auteuil stayed away from Saturday's game.


Kop Of Boulogne

Poland (3rd div.) : Kotwica Kołobrzeg - Gryf Wejherowo - 13/03/2010

Source : e-kg.pl + gk24.pl

Argentina : Son of Rosario Central hooligan killed - 13/03/2010

Source: momento24.com

In a violent event occurred in the last hours in Rosario city, Santa Fe province, the son of a known Rosario Central hooligan was killed, police said.

The incident occurred yesterday around 10 pm, at 6700 Cerrito Street, when two men attacked to Juan “Chaperito” Bustos, 34. They shot him and killed him.

The boy is the son of the famous hooligan “El Chapero” who had been displaced from the leadership of this group of fans.

Consequently authorities suspect that the mastermind behind the crime is Andres “Pillín” Bracamonte, head of the group called “Pillines” currently at the top of this hooligan.

These two groups have a fierce internal fight for the group control, generating these violent events, through which three people have being killed in a month in Santa Fe province.

Bohemians FC - Glentoran FC - Setanta Cup - 13/03/2010

Source : BBC News + belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Arrests made as Glentoran fans clash with Dublin police

Glentoran officials have accused Irish police of being heavy-handed while dealing with trouble at Saturday night's Setanta Cup match in Dublin.

It is understood Garda officers intervened when a Glentoran supporter attempted to erect a Northern Ireland flag at the Dalymount Park stadium.

Fighting then briefly broke out and a number of arrests were made.

Gardai said five people were arrested and would appear in court on Monday charged with public order offences.

"Officials from our club have told me some guards were heavy-handed with our fans," said Glens chairman Aubrey Ralph.

"From what I can gather the incident erupted when a fan put up an Ulster flag and a Garda person took objection to this and tried to remove it.

"That resulted in an altercation and other people joined in.

"I believe about five arrests were made."

Poland : Odra Wodzislaw Slaski - Piast Gliwice - 12/03/2010

Source : nowiny.pl

Prior to the game, at 6pm, supporters from both teams fought so police quickly intervened and have arrested four hooligans.
Maybe other arrests will appear during following days.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

Lyon - AS Saint-Etienne - 13/03/2010

Source : goal.com (direct live)

Tension in and outside the pitch.
Local supporters tried to invade the pitch but police intervened.

FC Copenhagen - Aarhus GF - 07/03/2010

Source : fyens.dk

A mob of about thirty hooligans, including some members of the White Pride (a right-wing group created in 1994), were arrested as police thought they'll make troubles.
Then, police sent them back home.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

Following Real Betis - Rayo Vallecano : judicial sentences - 12/03/2010

Source : elbetis.com + elpais.com

47 supporters risk up to 7000 € of fines and two years of stadium ban for their participation in rioting in the game played in March 7th, between Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano.
The supporters of which some helmeted clashed with bats, sticks, more surprising swords, bottles, stones, flares and other objetcs.
Several supporters was wounded and some vehicles were damaged. Inhabitants, of which some since carried felt sorry for degradation, had alerted the police which had put an end to the brawl, putting in escape the supporters of which some had been arrested.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

Salernitana - Cesena - 13/03/2010

Source: italian press

Riots opposed supporters before this game.
A group of Cesena supporters who came by coaches, were attacked by some local ultras.
Clashes took place for several minutes. A real ambush where Cesena supporters were defeated.
Troublemakers disappeared when police arrived.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

Lazio Roma - AS Bari - 13/03/2010

Source : sport.repubblica.it

In prevention, inside and outside the stadium, police controlled 7 young supporters, aged from 16 to 17 years old who had sticks, batons, chains and knives.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

FC Aarau - FC Zurich - 13/03/2010

Source : tsr.ch

Injured people and damages caused by hooliganism acts

FC Zurich supporters caused skirmishes with police Saturday night after their team won this game.
In their way from the stadium to the train station of Aarau, hooligans threw bricks and other missiles.
Seven policemen were injured and vehicles and shop windows were damaged and smashed up.
Police used flash-balls to restore order.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

FC Parma - Atalanta Bergamo - 14/03/2010

Source : ecodibergamo.it

This away game was totally forbidden for Atalanta supporters but 400 of them took the road of Parma and police contained them outside the stadium where they used firecrackers but no other troubles took place.
Local ultra group, Boys, showed a banner for these Atalanta supporters.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

Livorno - AS Roma - 14/03/2010

Source: italian press

Due to vandalism, some Roma supporters - about thirty - stayed in the train from Roma to Pisa, at the Grosseto train station.

In the same time, a mob of about twenty Roma supporters caused damages to vehicles.


Traduction Underground Fans (c)

SC Paderborn 07 - Hansa Rostock - 04/03/2010

Source : Flensburg-online.de

For this game in Paderborn, about 35 Rostock supporters made the trip by coach and provoked troubles inside a restaurant.
A total of eight Rostock supporters were arrested before the game for several things.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

Following Bayer Leverkusen vs 1. FC Köln : 135 stadiums bans - 14/03/2010

Source : rp-online.de

Due to troubles which occured during the game opposing Leverkusen to Koln, 135 supporters received 3-year stadiums bans for their violent acts.

Severe troubles took place for this derby game and several people were injured.

Translation Underground Fans (c)

FC Copenhagen - Brøndby IF - 14/03/2010

Source : bt.dk

Several hours before this Super League game opposing FCK to Brondby IF, away supporters attacked police with beer cans.
Police used batons to calm them down.
A total of 7 people were arrested in the hours before the game.
Two of them because they threw cans and 5 others for drugs.







**************************************

Source : ekstrabladet.dk

A total of 18 supporters were arrested by police.
Before the game, hundreds of hooligans from both team fronted themselves and police intervened several times.
After 30 minutes of havoc police restorder order shortly before 9pm then Brondby fans were escorted back to the train station.



Traduction Underground Fans

Cyprus: Apollon - Katestimeno - 14/03/2010

Source: https://www.youtube.com

Following Bohemians - Glentoran: Football supporters face court after five arrests at match - 15/03/2010

Source: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/football-supporters-face-court-after-five-arrests-at-match-2099250.html (thanks to the sender)

FIVE soccer supporters from Northern Ireland will appear in court this morning after being arrested over the weekend at a Setanta Cup match.

The five men, all in their 30s and 40s, are Glentoran supporters and were arrested on public order offences before and during the match against Bohemians in Dublin's Dalymount Park on Saturday.

Three of the men were arrested after fighting briefly broke out shortly after kick-off.

It is understood that gardai intervened when a Glentoran supporter attempted to erect an Ulster flag at the stadium.

The other two men were arrested before the game.

The garda press office said that all were charged with public order offences and released on bail. They will appear in court this morning.

Yesterday Glentoran chairman Aubrey Ralph accused gardai of over-reacting to the trouble.

"Officials from our club have told me some guards were heavy-handed with our fans," he told BBC Northern Ireland.

"We took a large body of supporters down there, about 700, and a lot complained very bitterly about how they were treated."

He added: I thought they appeared to bring in a public order unit and Alsatian dogs very quickly, which never helps a situation.

"We certainly want questions asked if we need so much policing, or public order policing," Mr Ralph said. The match was a 1-1 draw, which meant Glentoran did not qualify for the semi-finals of the All-Ireland competition.

Portugal: Lousada - Boavista - 14/03/2010

Source: http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/desporto/boavista-lousada-confrontos-maisfutebol-adeptos/1147206-4062.html (thanks to the sender)

At the end of the game, after boavista lost 2-0 to Lousada, a small riot occured with a few injured (6 Boavista supporters/ 3 GNRs ).
Boavista supporters also tried to enter local supporters area , but didn't manage it, so they started throwing rocks and other stuff to local supporters area and locals responded the same way .

Two Boavista supporters were arrested.



VIDEO:

http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/desporto/boavista-lousada-confrontos-maisfutebol-adeptos/1147206-4062.html

Middlesbrough - Newcastle - 13/03/2010

Source : Evening Gazette

Trouble flares as Boro draw with Newcastle at the Riverside

BORO'S big derby game on Saturday saw 25 supporters arrested at the best attended game of the season so far.

Four times as many home and away supporters were arrested in and around the Riverside Stadium compared to the average Boro home game.

Trouble also flared at Middlesbrough train station, according to police reports.

A Cleveland Police spokesman confirmed the average number of arrests is usually no more than six.

But while arrests were up during Boro’s 2-2 draw with sworn rivals the Magpies, the attendance for Saturday’s big derby game was by far the highest of the season at 27,347. The average for the season so far, including Saturday’s game is 19,927 with the first game of the season against Sheffield United the second-highest attended game at 23,541.

Newcastle fans took full advantage of the 3,743 seats allocated to them and Boro supporters on Gazettelive and the Fly Me To The Moon fanzine’s website blamed much of the trouble on Newcastle supporters taking up seats in Middlesbrough areas of the ground.

Writing on the Fly Me To The Moon website, parmoboy said: “I was sat in the North-west and it came very close to kicking off when a Geordie started celebrating Newcastle’s first goal. Loads of lads around me were getting wound up asking him to be removed.

“It got to the point where the Boro fans were getting more and more wound up.”

Parmoboy added that a club steward had no choice but to ask a police officer to escort the offending “Geordie” from the ground.

Rumbly added: “Few punches thrown, loads of young ‘uns jumping about, that’s about it.”

Blindschool said: “The Geordie in the North Stand was identified and when the steward tried to get him out he smacked the steward in the face until reinforcements came.”

Evening Gazette chief sports writer Eric Paylor said: “Some Newcastle fans came down to the Riverside Stadium during the week and bought tickets to sit in the Middlesbrough areas, because all the Newcastle tickets had been sold. Newcastle fans who wanted to go to the match knew you could come down to Boro because they weren’t going to sell out their areas.”

Brian Hewitson, writing on Gazettelive, said: “Totally embarrassed by the Newcastle fans... confirmed my decision long ago not to go to many away games.

“My apologies to all decent folk who attended for having to put up with the aggressive, foul mouthed morons masquerading as football fans.”

Writing on Anthony Vickers Untypical Boro blog, Redcar Red said: “Atmosphere was cracking just a shame that there were a few idiots but overall good banter between the two sets of fans and most important a Boro performance to be proud off.”

Aris - PAOK - 14/03/2010

Source : reuters + YouTube

Cyprus: Apollon Limassol - Apoel Nicosia - 14/03/2010

Source : cyprus-mail.com + sigmalive.com

Football hooligans back on the rampage

EIGHT POLICE officers were injured and eight people arrested Sunday in one of the most serious outbreaks of football violence so far this year.

Limassol’s Tsirion stadium, the venue for the Apollon v APOEL game, was left in ruin after visiting fans went on the rampage, setting fire to dozens of seats and fighting pitched battles with police on the stands.

With tensions running high before and during the match, the real trouble erupted 10 minutes before full-time right after hosts Apollon scored a second goal. The game ended 2-0 to the Limassol side.

On the eastern wing of the stadium, APOEL supporters began ripping out and burning seats. When firemen tried to approach to put out the fires, they were forced back under a hail of soda cans and water bottles which had meanwhile been looted from a canteen. The same treatment was reserved for a group of police officers who tried to disperse the crowd and clear the way for the firefighters.

A number of flares, smuggled into the grounds, were also hurled onto the field.

Eventually riot police moved in and using teargas managed to break up the disturbances.

In the fracas, eight police officers were injured slightly, and eight persons aged between 18 and 25 were arrested. They will be appearing in court for their remand hearing today.

Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos did not rule out further arrests once authorities had looked at CCTV footage.

Hooligans had smashed up the stadium toilets and broke the glass pane of an emergency exit, later using the glass shards as projectiles. The track around the field was extensively damaged. According to the stadium administrator, overall the damages to the stadium are estimated at around €10,000, which APOEL club has agreed to pay for.

Disturbances carried over outside after the final whistle, as hooligans smashed the window panes of several nearby shops and of one residence, and damaged two private vehicles and a police patrol car.

Heavily-outnumbered police were able to keep the two sets of fans separate, thus preventing disturbances from escalating.

“Can you imagine what might have happened had the fans clashed?” the police spokesman said on CyBC radio yesterday.

Before the game, a bus transporting APOEL fans stopped on the highway, youths got out and started pelting oncoming cars with stones. Another group attacked a residence and a shop next to the stadium

Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said hooligans were constantly evolving their tactics to outsmart stadium security. Minutes before kickoff, a large group of around 300 APOELl fans arrived all at once at the turnstiles, rushing the police officers posted there. A number of them reacted angrily to the body checks. In the resulting confusion, some of them managed to slip flares inside undetected.

“It was a mob that destroyed everything in its path,” Katsounotos said. “This is not the first time that they [fans] gather en masse like this.”

A day earlier, and acting on a tipoff police in Nicosia had found and seized a stash of around 80 flares believed to have been intended for the game.

Katsounotos sought to deflect attention away from the police, noting that the security steps agreed so far with football authorities and clubs amounted only to “half measures.”

And he repeated calls to ban visiting fans from high-risk fixtures.

Last November, the Cyprus Football Association (KOP) announced a raft of new measures to combat hooliganism, including imposing an 18-month ban on the traveling fans of either club involved in disturbances.

Anthoullis Mylonas, executive director of KOP, told the Mail yesterday that the measure was still in effect.

Asked whether it would be enforced for the Apollon and APOEL supporters following Sunday’s incidents, Mylonas said this would be “discussed” at a KOP meeting today.

Also in November, the FA and KOA had unveiled bold plans to install state-of-the-art surveillance system in football stadiums, each claiming credit for the idea.

Under the scheme, the data gathered by CCTV surveillance cameras is fed into a central computer, which using special software can identify an individual within minutes. The system works in tandem with ticketing.

British security experts were to be invited to Cyprus to advise authorities here on the best way to install the system, which could cost up to €1 million per stadium.

Asked how the idea was progressing, Mylonas said an official of the English FA had come to the island two months ago. The official had prepared a memo with suggestions on security measures. “We are currently studying his recommendations,” Mylonas said.

Cyprus: Clubs must pay the price of their fans’ hooliganism - 16/03/2010

Source : cyprus-mail.com

NINE DAYS ago, AEL hooligans from Limassol went on the rampage after a match at Nicosia’s GSP stadium. Two days ago, APOEL hooligans from Nicosia went on the rampage after a match at Limassol’s Tsirion stadium. In both instances, policemen were injured as they tried to control the thugs, damage was caused to property and several arrests were made.

In fact the latest outburst of football violence was worse than the previous weekend’s as the APOEL fans not only ransacked the stadium canteen and used its products as missiles, but they also set fire to seats while outside the ground they smashed a few shop windows and cars. The AEL supporters were almost well-behaved, by comparison, a week earlier.

At least the APOEL chairman Phivos Erotocritou did not try to excuse the hooligans’ behaviour by blaming inadequate policing or bad refereeing as is usually the case. He condemned the hooliganism and said he would not allow these people, who had no place in football grounds, to destroy the club. While his clear stand was commendable, words are not enough. Erotocritou slammed similar behaviour by APOEL fans some months ago, but no action was taken against anyone.

This is the crux of the problem. Drastic action is never taken against the clubs whose fans cause trouble and therefore the clubs have no incentive to root out the troublemakers. Everyone makes a perfunctory condemnation of the violence, a few politicians express their abhorrence, the police are urged to tackle the troublemakers without being given any assistance by the clubs and the Cyprus Football Federation’s (KOP) bosses hide their heads in the sand.

And then we wonder why hooliganism is rampant? The truth is that everyone passes the buck to the police command, which tries to take responsibility but is invariably blamed for taking inadequate measures at matches or using excessive force against the troublemakers. The clubs and KOP never take any responsibility for the violence, let alone try to help the police.

Yesterday, the police spokesman repeated an old proposal for banning visiting fans from high-risk games. This would penalise the home club – reduced gate receipts – for doing nothing wrong. There is a much easier way to deal with the situation – making a team, whose fans had caused trouble, play a home match behind closed doors. If APOEL, for instance, was deprived of the gate receipts of the next two home games as punishment for Sunday’s violence it would soon find the troublemakers among its fans and ban them.

If hooliganism is ever to be tackled the clubs must work with the police, but as they refuse to do so voluntarily, they should be forced to do so. If they were burdened with a financial cost every time their supporters turned violent, they would help police efforts to combat hooliganism. Of course, expecting the timid KOP leadership get tough on the clubs is wishful thinking.