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Press Releases
Call for England football fans to get better protection abroad
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The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) has told ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 1's Newsbeat that English supporters are being targeted because they are English and they need better protection.
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The FSF's Kevin Gates says foreign police need to be more aware that England supporters are often the victims of crimes.
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"There are so many people who want to make a name for themselves at our expense – and think because they're English fans, they are legitimate targets," he says.
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"There is clearly a case for better protection for English football supporters."
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Radio 1's Newsbeat has found that the European Commission has just given the go-head to a multi-million pound pan-European football police training programme. The money will be used to train European police in different tactics to deal with football fans.
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Bryan Drew, head of the UK football policing unit told Newsbeat that British police methods will be shared with foreign police commanders.
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"The idea is to share knowledge, share identified good practice, share experience across Europe," he says.
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"We want to bring a degree of consistency to football-related policing across Europe."
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For years the English were well-known for their football hooligans and some fans still cause trouble. They sometimes get into fights and can get drunk and rowdy.
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But the latest Home Office statistics show only five England fans were arrested at games abroad last season.
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In comparison at Euro 2000, hundreds of England supporters were detained and deported from Holland and Belgium.
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Since then, banning orders have stopped a lot of trouble-makers travelling abroad. However, the past hooligan reputation means that English fans are often singled out for attack.
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England fan John, 29, who went to the England v Croatia game in Zagreb in September, says: "Out of nowhere, a bunch of local Croatians just turned up and started laying into us. Kicking and punching. We were hit over the head with a bottle."
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His friend Jim, 27, was also attacked. He added: "My head, it split open. There was quite a lot of blood. I managed to get away and start running. I know exactly why we were attacked. Because we were England fans. No other reason."
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Stephen Thomas, head of policing football at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), believes the threat of disorder in a foreign country now is England fans being attacked.
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"Our fans will be picked on by foreign hooligan groups who see the English as the ultimate hooligans," he says.
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"They think that if they can fight and beat the English in a fight, then they can take that mantle off them."
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Notes to Editors
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Please credit Radio 1's Newsbeat in any copy.
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PH
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