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Euro 2024 organizers prepare for twin threats of terror and soccer hooligans

Hosting sporting mega-events presents a slew of logistical challenges andcountless risks, as evidenced by recent terror threats and aresurgence ofan old scourge:soccer hooligans.

Security experts weigh in on potential risks at 2024 Euros in Germany in June

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Fans of England celebrate their side's victory as stewards and police look on after the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Semi-final match between England and Denmark at Wembley Stadium on July 07, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Ellis - Pool/Getty Images)
Fans of England's national soccer team celebrate their side's victory, as stewards and police look on, after the Euro 2020 semi-final match between England and Denmark at London's Wembley Stadium on July 7, 2021. (Paul Ellis - Pool/Getty Images)

Millions of soccer supporters from around the globe will descend on Germany in latespring to attend the 2024 European Football Championship.

A quadrennial affair, the Euros are one of the sport's most beloved events, and the German government expects this year's tournament to draw 2.7 million fans to stadiums andanother 12 million to public viewing events across the 10 host cities the smallest of which, Gelsenkirchen, has a population of just over 264,000.

Hosting such mega-events presents a slew of logistical challenges andcountless risks, as evidenced by recent terror threats and aresurgence ofan old scourge:soccer hooligans.

Following the terror attackon a concert hall in Moscow in March for which ISISclaimed responsibilitythe German government announced increased border controls.

A media outlet linked to ISIS threatenedattacksahead of quarterfinal matches for a separate European soccer tournament last week, emphasizing the need for preparedness ahead of the start of the Euros on June 14, when the hosts playScotland in Munich.

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"The terrorism threat has changed," said David Holley, who worked as a security consultant for the BBC the last time Germany hosted an event of this size, the 2006 World Cup.

"We do know that terrorist groups are now operating in Europe. They have sleeper cells So it is a much higher, more visible threat this time round."

Anticipating threats

Anexhibition match between the French and German national soccer teams was the target for a suicide bomber in Parisin 2015, when a series of co-ordinated attacks were carried out across the French capital, resulting in the deathof 130 people.

Security at the Stade de France, where the game was being played, detected the attacker's bomb beltand stopped him from entering the stadium just as he detonated the device.

The ball for the upcoming Euro 2024 is pictured ahead ahead the friendly football match between Germany and Netherlands in Frankfurt, western Germany, on March 26, 2024. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)
The ball for the upcoming Euro 2024 is pictured ahead of a friendly match between Germany and Netherlands in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 26, 2024. (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)

Holley, who was once a lieutenant-colonel in the British Army, says his work now consists oflooking after journalists when they go into "hostile or fragile environments," which he saysthe Euros has the potential to be.

"There's going to be so many targets, it's not just the stadiums There are going to be thousands of fans in fan zones, market squares, wherever there's an open caf or pub or restaurants, piazzas, those types of places. How do you protect the population?"

The tournament organizers, theUnion of European Football Associations (UEFA), told CBC News in an email that"security at EURO 2024 is a top priority for UEFA and the German authorities ... We are confident that all necessary measures will be taken."

HAMBURG, GERMANY - MARCH 08:  Police officers simulate controlling a busload of rioting football fans during a security and police training exercise in preparation for the FIFA 2006 World Cup of March 8, 2006 in Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg will be one of the Host Cities during the FIFA 2006 World Cup in Germany.  (Photo by Elisenda Roig/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Police officers simulate controlling a busload of rioting football fans in Hamburg, Germany, on March 8, 2006, during a security and police training exercise in preparation for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. (Elisenda Roig/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Holley says controlled environments or "hard targets" like the stadium where a match is taking place are much more difficult to attack,because security in and out of the grounds will be so strict.

"Soft targets," however, will be much more vulnerable because people don't need tickets to the games tojoin in the atmosphere, which makes them much more susceptible to risk.

High risk of fan violence

The potential for threats like terrorism are always anticipated, even if they're not a guarantee. Whereas the challenges that arise from large quantities of people coming together is pretty much an inevitability, says Martin Lodge, co-director of the Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation in London.

"What you're dealing with is largely a bunch of drunken people basically transporting themselves around a country," he said.

TOPSHOT - Georgia fans invade the pitch after their team won the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying play-off final football match between Georgia and Greece in Tbilisi on March 26, 2024. (Photo by Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE / AFP) (Photo by GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE/AFP via Getty Images)
Georgia fans invade the pitch after their team won a Euros 2024 qualifying playoff match against Greece in Tbilisi, Georgia, on March 26, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

The 2022 World Cup in Qatarsaw a strict code of conduct forbidding public drunkenness and limiting access to alcohol, a World Cup first. Afterwards, the U.K. Football Policing Unitpraised the "exemplary" behaviour of English and Welsh fans attending the tournament, remarking that there had been zero police incidentsandarrests, another first, which they attributed largely to Qatar's rules on drinking.

The U.K.'s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) issued guidance last month urging the anticipated half a million Britons travelling to the Eurosto "drink responsibly."

The FCDO stated that those who drink too much might not be let into the stadium, and further warned travelling fans about the strength of German beer compared to British beer.

According to U.K. charity Drinkware, the average strength of lager in the U.K. is around 4.6 per cent, but in Germany, beers can range from 4.5 per cent to as much as 7.0 per cent.

England supporters cheer on a fan to down a pint of beer at the 4TheFans Fan Park in Manchester, as they wait to watch the UEFA EURO 2020 football match between England and Czech Republic, being played in London on June 22, 2021. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
England supporters cheer on a fan as he downs a pint of beer at the 4TheFans Fan Park in Manchester, U.K., during a Euros 2020 match between England and Czech Republic on June 22, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

The concern surrounding alcohol consumption stems from the role it can play in spurring soccer-related violence, which has been on the rise in the U.K.Data released from the Home Office last year showed the number of arrests at soccer matches in England and Wales was the highest it's been in nine years.

Hooliganism on the rise

Soccer-related violence has been studied for decadessince its emergence in the 1970s,and can be linked to unemployment, economic inequalityand alienation.

According to Italian-based sociologist Roland Benedikter, it has seen a surge across Europe due to "profound disruptions in almost every field of society."

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Supporters celebrate England's first goal at the 4TheFans Fan Park at Event City on July 07, 2021 in Manchester, United Kingdom. England has reached the semi-finals of the UEFA European Football Championship 2020 hoping to make the final for the first time in the history of the competition. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)
Supporters celebrate England's first goal at the 4TheFans Fan Park in Manchester on July 7, 2021. (Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

"Systemic crises are taking place simultaneously in politics, culture, religion, demography, technology and the economy," writes Benedikter, citing increasingly split societies across Europe. The rise of globalization and wars in both the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as rising global temperatures, have dramatically impacted the way people are thinking about their future.

"Many people now feel insufficient, uncomfortable, insecure and therefore more aggressive. There is a sense of a 'loss of control,'" Benedikter writes, citing the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centerin New York as the catalyst for a "global systemic shift."

The mayhem that can ensue when angry, disenfranchised fans over-imbibe was on display at the last Euros, in 2021, when thousands of ticketless fans overturned barriers and went stampeding into Wembley Stadium in London.

A review of the incident concluded the terrifying siege was "a series of 'near misses' which could have led to significant injuries or even death."

The event was especially sensitive given English soccer's dark history with crowd control.

The Hillsborough disaster took place 35 years ago this week, in which 97 people were crushed to death at a game in Sheffield. This shifted the Football Association's attitude towardsafety and saw a number of new measures introduced, such as the replacement of standing terraces with seated stadiums.

Lodge says the "human factors" are the most important areas to focus on during major sporting events.That means ensuring emergency services, ticket-takersand security on site are as prepared as they can possibly be for any number of scenarios.

1989:  Tributes cover a fence and path in the aftermath of the disaster at Hillsborough in Sheffield, England. \ Mandatory Credit: Pascal  Rondeau/Allsport
In this photo from 1989, tributes cover a fence and path in the aftermath of the deadly stadium disaster at Hillsborough in Sheffield, England. (Pascal Rondeau/Allsport)

He said that because the 2006 World Cup in Germany was such a success,there are few lessons for the host nationto learn from that tournament.

"Ithink you could argue the problem is it went too well. You know, in that sense, there was very little crowd violence. Everyone was happy," said Lodge.

"So it seems like a very different world from the present one."