Polish, German Police Test Techniques to Fight Hooligans

Dozens of Polish border guards in riot gear stormed a battered old bus on Thursday as German police blocked the road in the Polish border town of Lubieszyn.

But instead of facing a rowdy pack of hooligans, the bus was packed with officers enthusiastically filling in as unruly problem soccer fans while other police authorities from both countries looked on.

The masked, black-clad Polish border guards, armed with batons and shields, grabbed the "fans" by the neck, locked their arms behind their backs and dragged them off the bus, after the hooligans refused to present their passports for a routine check.

With the June 9 World Cup kick-off match only weeks away and amid fears that Polish fans plan to wreak havoc at the finals in neighboring Germany, the exercise was designed to be as realistic as possible.

Police nervous about Germany-Poland match

"The conditions in this exercise were very close to what we would expect in real life," said Jacek Ogrodowicz, a spokesman for the Polish regional border guards. "The 'fans' were very aggressive. We hope we won't have to do this for real."

Amid reports that Polish hooligans are planning to run riot in Germany during the World Cup -- with a June 14 first-round match between Poland and Germany in Dortmund of particular concern -- border guards and police from the two countries have been staging a series of joint exercises to hone their response to trouble.

When the "hooligans" at Lubieszyn began violently rocking their bus to chants of "Ole, ole, ole, we won't give up," brandishing bottles and blaring air horns, the border guards backed off until a special reinforcement unit with riot equipment arrived from the nearby city of Szczecin.

Many problem fans banned from traveling to Cup

Poland has banned 600 known troublemakers from traveling to Germany for the World Cup, which runs until July 9.

That's far less than the 3,500 hooligans banned by Britain, but the German press has given high prominence to reports that Polish hooligans are planning trouble.

A pre-arranged mass brawl last November between German and Polish hooligans in a forest on the two countries' border has heightened fears of disturbances, as did a March clash between supporters of two Krakow clubs that resulted in the death of a 21-year-old man.

A Polish anti-fascist group has said it believes hooligans from Poland want to cause chaos in the glare of the world media spotlight.

"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 racism in soccer, told AFP earlier this month. "Already they're organizing, preparing for the World Cup, to confront hooligans from other countries."

Ogrodowicz said Polish border guards were ready to take on any would-be troublemakers.

"We have been training for the World Cup for several months," he said. "We are well prepared. We will continue training."