More than 650 football thugs from Argentina are planning to ambush the English football supporters as warned by the Brazilian police.
Reports suggests that hooligans of the notorious Barra Brava groups will travel to Brazil for the tournament from the neighbouring country, Argentina, with most of them heading off to Belo Horizente which will be the venue for Argentina and England’s group games.
The violent Brazilian ultras will assist the Bravas as warned by the local Police who believe that the two factions have joined hands with a common goal to hurt the England fans during the tournament.
Brazilian Mafia Azul, which is one of the major infamous hooligan group, has reportedly made some preparations to accomodate their neighbouring thugs. They have rented a ranch on the outskirts of the city in southeast Brazil to shelter the San Lorenzo (football club of Argentina) based hooligans.
Miliary police chief Col Divino Brito, who believes there will be a premeditated attack on the English fans, spoke to Brazil's Estado de Minas newspaper.
“Our worry is that in the interval between one match and another, when we are going to have thousands of fans from Argentina and then from England, there are going to be clashes,” Brito said.
“We will deal forcefully with any foreigner who comes here wanting to commit violence and vandalism,” he added.
But Col Alberto Luiz Alves admitted, “We can normally monitor groups with a history of violence.
“But we would only know of dangerous fans if they enter by air, and in the case of the Argentinian Barra Bravas most will be arriving by land. It will be very difficult to keep track of them.”
Mafia Azul has been known for being ultra violent owing to their previous incidents of hooliganism. Earlier, the group were banished from attending the matches in all of Brazil’s football stadiums after they were responsible for violent riots which caused deaths to several people.
Barras Bavas themselves have reportedly caused 120 deaths in Argentina over the past 20 years. Their lawyer, Debora Hambo, has warned stating that the Argentinians haven’t forgotten the Falklands war and they are preparing to take revenge on the English in Brazil.
“We will always remember what happened in 1982,” she said.
“They are not cowards. They are not concerned about their physical integrity. It doesn't matter to them, they risk their lives every minute.”
“They are brave beyond life and death. That is why they have a violent reputation,” added Hambo.