England-Serbia Euro 2024 match deemed ‘high risk’ but messages are mixed

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Because England v Serbia was labeled high risk by police, it’s the only Euro 2024 match where supporters at the Gelsenkirchen stadium are limited to low alcohol beer.

Yet elsewhere in the city on Sunday, organizers are preparing for a festival atmosphere despite police concerns about possible crowd violence.

“We have a lot of alcohol,” Wilhelm Weßels, head of the Euros office in the city of Gelsenkirchen, said on Friday. To be precise, he talked about 80,000 liters of beer.

If it seems like the messages to Gelsenkirchen fans are mixed, that’s because they are.

Being a host city for the European Championship is a big deal for Gelsenkirchen, and the fan zone and banners set up at its center are ready to accommodate an expected 20,000 English fans and around 10,000 Serbians.

But the potential for trouble was highlighted as the match got closer and closer.

“Between the state police forces, the national associations and UEFA as organizer, we came to the conclusion that this match would be classified as a so-called high-risk match,” said Peter Both, director of the Gelsenkirchen police.

For historical reasons, this label is not surprising. England fans have had a notorious reputation for decades, while Serbian fans caused the cancellation of a Euro 2012 qualifier against Italy by throwing flares and fireworks.

The effectiveness of the low-alcohol measure is questionable, given the availability of neat beer outside the stadium before kick-off at 9 p.m. local time.

“If someone arrives so drunk that they are barely able to keep their ticket, I would expect them to be refused entry to the stadium,” Both said.

“I firmly believe that there is a link between excessive alcohol consumption and the desire to become violent. If it no longer exists, all the biology books on the subject will have to be rewritten. »

While alcohol appears to be the main topic of debate ahead of the match, Weßels was keen to highlight other options available to fans, including 32,000 sausages and 7.5 tonnes of chips.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024