Security ramped up before Poland-Russia clash

WARSAW (AFP) –

Police officers walk past a poster of a Russian (left) and a Polish (right) fan at the National Stadium in Warsaw on June 8 before the opening of the Euro 2012 football championships. Poland’s capital Warsaw was bracing Tuesday for what authorities have dubbed its “greatest ever” security challenge, as the national side plays old foe Russia in a must-win Euro 2012 match.

Police upped their numbers in Warsaw Tuesday as Poland prepared to play old foe Russia in a must-win Euro 2012 match on home turf, amid what authorities have dubbed their “greatest ever” security challenge.

Centuries of bad blood and suspicion between the two countries, coupled with pockets of fans on both sides with a reputation for violence, are stoking fears that brawls could erupt even before kick-off.

Poland’s interior minister Jacek Cichocki confirmed a heavier police presence in Warsaw, having previously described the security operation as the “greatest-ever challenge for law and order forces in the capital”.

“Drunk fans both in the city centre and on the outskirts of Warsaw after the game — especially around midnight — that’s a real concern to us,” added Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Tusk also hit back at claims of racism levelled at Poland, with a number of reported incidents, most notably taunts at members of the Dutch national team as they trained and Russian fans against Ethiopian-Czech Theodor Gebre Selassie.

“Let’s be honest, racist and anti-Semitic attitudes among Polish hooligans are a fact. But I strongly protest against stigmatising Poland as a country in which this phenomenon is growing,” he said.

Before the match, helicopters circled the sky above the capital, where some 6,000 police are on duty over the course of the tournament.

Poland’s Euro 2012 organisers said 9,800 Russian and 29,300 Polish fans had match tickets but they were expected 12,000 Russian fans in the city for match day.

Officers in central Warsaw flagged down cars looking for banned items like weapons and flares and to check passengers’ identities. Fans were also stopped in the street, AFP reporters said.

Polish policemen and military police outside the fan zone in Wroclaw, Poland, on June 8. Poland’s capital Warsaw was bracing Tuesday for what authorities have dubbed its “greatest ever” security challenge, as the national side plays old foe Russia in a must-win Euro 2012 match on home turf.

But Russian fans who began pouring into the Polish capital insisted the security issue was being blown out of proportion.

“We won’t be provoking anything,” said Svetoslaw Sorokine, 33, who travelled 48 hours by train from Yoshkar-Ola, a city 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of Moscow for the match.

“Our supporters come in a spirit of peace to support our team, not to play politics,” he added.

Fellow fan Ilya Koulikov, a Moscow-native, said fears of clashes among fans were being “fuelled by the media who are stoking the fire. People have come for the football.”

Polish media played up the tense history of the old foes, with the centre-left daily Gazeta Wyborcza resorting to military language.

“It won’t be a simple march across Warsaw, alas, but massive air raids against the Polish net,” the newspaper said. “Above all, we must survive this match.”

In a march that will itself make history, thousands of Russian fans are set to cross a central Warsaw bridge to the brand-new National Stadium for the Group A fixture on what also happens to be the visitors’ national day.

Russians have rarely walked in such numbers in Warsaw since the end of World War II.

Russia come into the game on a high after thumping the Czech Republic 4-1 in their first game but Poland drew 1-1 with Greece, making a win a must for the Euro 2012 co-hosts if they are to go through to the last eight.

Football-mad Prime Minister Tusk joked that his “trembling heart” predicted a 4-0 victory for Poland but “reason and my football savvy tell me it’s going to a very tough match”.

Tusk will be hoping the scoreline is not a repeat of a friendly match between Poland and Russia fans, who a day earlier came together to lay wreaths in honour of people from both countries who were killed in World War II.

Russia won 8-7 on penalties.