World Cup Security, Safety Gets Thumbs up From FIFA

Officials from FIFA, the world soccer governing body, have described security precautions in Germany as excellent and have high hopes for a smooth running month-long tournament.

An event on the scale of the World Cup inevitably raises fears about security threats, ranging from outbursts of hooligan violence to terror attacks carried out by Muslim fundamentalists.

During a panel discussion at the congress, the point was made, not for the first time, that 100 percent security can never be guaranteed. Wolfgang Gunkel, a former police official and now Social Democrat parliamentarian, told the assembled security chiefs that he was confident that there would be enough police on the ground to cope with the challenges.

"Of the 48 first-round matches there are not more than 12 which will require maximum safety precautions," he said. "Given the fact that 250,000 regional police and 30,000 federal police will be assigned to World Cup security, I think we’ll be able to minimize the risks drastically."

Hooligan worries remain but Germany is well-equipped

What appears to worry German authorities more than violence at the games, however, is the prospect of outbursts of hooligan violence taking place far away from stadiums.

At so-called public viewing events, thousands of fans will be able to watch matches on giant video screens in selected German cities. To reduce the risk of violence, conference participants agreed that it was important to prevent known hooligans from entering Germany.

Cooperation between German and British police was praised in this respect because of their joint efforts aimed at identifying violent fans. Walter Gagg, the director of stadium security at FIFA says current preparations are very thorough.

"We are very pleased and very happy with the organization and with the infrastructure in the stadiums," he said. "We know we are in a country with open borders but we’ll have full security regarding the so-called hooligans. We are convinced that security wise we’ll have one of the best World Cups we ever had."

Terror threat at World Cup low, say officials

Regarding possible threats of terror attacks, Germany is also placing great emphasis on prevention, meaning that terror suspects are to be identified when crossing the border or even well before coming to Germany.

In addition, NATO AWACS surveillance planes will monitor German airspace to guard against airborne attacks.

Gagg played down the possibility of a terrorist attack on the tournament, saying soccer -- unlike the Olympic Games -- had never fallen victim to such an act of terrorism before.

"Football has never, really never, been sought out by terrorist attacks at this level. We are convinced we won't have any terrorist actions against the soccer World Cup," he said.

However, Willy Kösling, a German security official responsible for World Cup preparations said: "Thank God, we have no concrete indications of a particular concrete threat in the area of terrorism, but we can't rule it out. We hope it stays that way."

FIFA would welcome Bundeswehr involvement

Police officials at the congress were skeptical whether Germany's armed forces should become involved in World Cup security beyond that. Some German politicians want Bundeswehr troops to support police forces during the event. Walter Gagg said FIFA wouldn't object if the German government was to deem this necessary.

"This is a matter for the German state," he said. "But we are convinced that the German government together with the organizing committee will find the right solution and they can use these additional people for the excellent organization of the World Cup."

He added that the presence of troops, as well as police, could play a positive role in guaranteeing security during the tournament.

"Absolutely, we believe that if a country is convinced it would like to have an additional support for the police, then it's appropriate to use it," he said, citing the Winter Olympics in Italy as an example. "Look at Turin now, and how many troops are deployed there just to be able to organize these Games."

Germany debates troops in security role

Germany's conservative Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is advocating the use of troops as a supplementary security force to aid the already over-stretched German police despite widespread opposition and the need for a change of constitution to deploy the armed forces on German soil in a military or security capacity.

Defense ministry officials have said they planned to deploy only 2,000 German troops for the World Cup providing medical, transport and facilities support as well as specialists for dealing with nuclear, chemical or biological attacks. Such a mission would not infringe on the constitutional law which prevents the Bundeswehr from domestic deployment.

'Unsafe' stadiums get approval

Congress participants also dismissed concerns about allegedly unsafe German stadiums. A recent report by Stiftung Warentest, the German consumer group, condemned four stadiums as potentially fatal crowd traps. Gagg said these reports were exaggerated and that visitors needn't fear for their lives in an emergency.

"We are happy, we have good stadiums here in Germany, they have full security infrastructure," he said.