England-Serbia Euro 2024 match is deemed ‘high risk’ but messages are mixed
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/06/2024 (661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Because England vs. Serbia has been tagged high risk by police, it’s the only Euro 2024 game where fans in the Gelsenkirchen stadium are restricted to low alcohol beer.
Yet, elsewhere in the city on Sunday, organizers are preparing for a festival atmosphere despite police concerns about potential crowd violence.
“We’ve plenty of alcohol,” Wilhelm Weßels, head of the city of Gelsenkirchen Euros office, said on Friday. To be precise, he said 80,000 liters of beer.
If it sounds like the messages to fans in Gelsenkirchen are mixed, it is because they are.
Being a host city for the European Championship is a big deal to Gelsenkirchen, and the fan zone and bunting set up in its center is ready to welcome an expected 20,000 England fans and around 10,000 from Serbia.
But the potential for problems has been highlighted as the game has edged ever closer.
“Between the police forces of the federal states, the national associations and UEFA as the organizer, we came to the conclusion that this match would be classified a so-called high-risk match,” said Peter Both, chief police director of Gelsenkirchen.
For historical reasons, that tag doesn’t surprise. English fans have a notorious reputation going back decades, while Serbian supporters caused a Euro 2012 qualifier against Italy to be called off when they threw flares and fireworks.
The effectiveness of the low alcohol measure is questionable, given how readily available full-strength beer will be outside of the stadium ahead of kickoff at 9 p.m. local time.
“If someone arrives so drunk that they are barely able to hold their ticket, I would expect them to be denied entry to the stadium,” Both said.
“I firmly believe that there is a connection between excessive alcohol consumption and the willingness to become violent. If that no longer exists, we will have to rewrite all the biology books on the subject.”
While alcohol has felt like the main topic of debate ahead of the match, Weßels was keen to point to other options available for fans, including 32,000 sausages and 7.5 tons of chips.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024