Experts called in to help with hooligans

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias is set to convene a meeting to deal with football-related violence, while police have invited overseas experts to train them in handling riots similar to those in Limassol on Saturday that saw 11 officers injured – two seriously.
“The issue is complex and has many aspects. It is certainly not limited only to sports grounds and is not only related to football,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said. “Violence is foremost a social problem, it has social roots.”
Rival fans ran riot on Saturday, setting fires and hurling petrol bombs.
One officer suffered a slashed tendon on his right arm after he was struck by a shard of glass, while a second one sustained face injuries after a flare – fired from close distance – pierced his riot shield.
“Surely football-related violence is a special chapter that needs special attention and approach,” the government spokesman said.
He added that it has become even more difficult when the violence came out of the football grounds.
“The effort to effectively tackle violence should be collective. Solutions cannot be fragmented, but complete,” Stefanou said.
The spokesman said the date of the meeting and other details will be announced when the president returns from abroad.
Police have only managed to arrest four people in connection with Saturday’s trouble – after they visited the hospital to be treated for various injuries.
Three others arrested later were released.
Police admitted their weakness in arresting people but put it down to the fact that most involved wore helmets and balaclavas or hoods and scarves hiding their face.
“From the moment that everyone hides behind the anonymity of the helmet and balaclava, how can we find them?” police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.
In the past, police had pushed for a ban of balaclavas on football grounds.
Katsounotos said the force has called in experts from the United Kingdom to train officers in crowd control tactics.
“It had been decided at the beginning of this year to bring in experts, specialising in tackling hooliganism, to train special anti-riot units based in every district,” Katsounotos said.
He said the British experts are expected at the end of this month.

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