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South Africa on hooligan watch for England match

CAPE TOWN - South African police went on hooligan alert Friday as tens of thousands of England football fans poured into Cape Town stadium and took over seafront bars for a World Cup showdown with Algeria.

Security officials have classified the game as high risk in a city which is regarded as a tourist magnet and home to a large British expatriate population.

Draped red and white English flags dominated Green Point stadium where British princes William and Harry joined a near capacity crowd that filled the ground with song, chants and drums after the 1830 GMT kick-off.

Supporters began piling into the bars along Cape Town’s historic Waterfront as soon as they opened at 11:00 am local time, draping railings with their flags, and embarking on marathon drinking sessions before the evening match.

While many taunted their Algerian rivals as “Egyptians in Disguise”, the mood was largely good-natured and police said they had no reports of trouble by the early evening in an area steeped in British history.

“It’s because of where we are. It’s a tourist destination, there are bars, restaurants. It lends itself to large numbers of supporters,” said English Chief Superintendent Dave Lewis, commander of the British police contingent travelling with the team.

“South African police have identified there’s potential for sets of fans to get a bit boisterous. They have a plan to separate them out,” he said.

With about 30,000 England fans expected at the game, South African national police spokeswoman Sally de Beer said security measures had been beefed up.

“Obviously England is a high-risk team so we had to step up our security,” she said. “About 1,000 additional police officers from our training college have been added for all the matches in Cape Town.”

The influx prompted Cape Argus afternoon newspaper to headline its paper “Welcome to Little Britain”, describing the city as a sea of red and white after a fans’ “invasion”.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” said Tim Chandler, a supporter from London. “I’m going to take it easy with only a few drinks but I am sure there will be some who take it to extremes. But then they will probably go and miss the match.”

Despite worries about the English reputation for hooliganism, the Argentinians have been the biggest offenders so far.

South Africa has deported 28 known Argentine hooligans, with only one England fan turned away — partly because Britain has stepped up efforts to keep them from leaving the country in the first place.

Security has dominated concerns about the tournament since South Africa was named host six years ago, with worries over high crime as well as the still new public transport system.

Police on Friday processed queues of festive fans after they were forced to take over security at Cape Town’s stadium, and three others, after stewards walked off the job in a dispute over pay.

About 200 stewards showed up at the Cape Town offices of Stallion Security on Thursday to demand payment. Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

The troubles have failed to dampen enthusiasm for the games, with scalpers openly circling the stadium in Port Elizabeth ahead of Germany’s 1-0 loss to Serbia.

In Cape Town, one cheeky set of fans even jokingly offered to sell a young boy in exchange for four seats, carrying a placard reading “Child 4 Sale — 4 Tickets”.

Ten-year-old Josh Conlin was spared however when his 23-year-old cousin Jason Dodwell managed to acquire four at around double the box office price.

Scalpers have increasingly shown up ahead of matches despite the heavy security presence.

A special World Cup court this week sentenced a Nigerian scalper to three years in jail after he was found with 30 tickets on Sunday.