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Police: 'Clubs must step up hooliganism fight'

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Police: 'Clubs must step up hooliganism fight'
The match between Hannover 96 and Eintract Braunschweig on November 8th was blighted by violence. Photo: DPA

German football clubs were slammed on Monday by the national police union for not doing enough to stamp out hooliganism in the game.

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"We urge federations and clubs to finally take action against hooligans who travel for away games and not to focus solely on security in stadiums," DPolG president Horst Pawlik said.

Pawlik said the world of football was not assuming their "responsibility"in the fight against hooliganism and "offloading" the problem onto the police.

He cited as an example Hannover 96's clash with Eintracht Braunschweig on November 8th when some 14 police officers were hurt and four fans were arrested and dozens more injured.

Police had deployed dozens of extra officers for the match at the HDI Arena where 47,200 fans had packed into the stadium.

But officers have also been criticized for their heavy-handed response to football fans.

For the Hannover 96 game they used water cannons, batons and pepper spray on fans outside the stadium before kick-off in a bid to keep rival fans apart.

Pawlik welcomed the initiative of Borussia Dortmund, who banned 'ultra' fan groups from away games following trouble at the Ruhr derby last month.

"I'd like more action like this to be taken against the troublemakers,"added Pawlik.

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