200 England fans detained in Stuttgart

By Kate Holton

STUTTGART (Reuters) – Riot police detained around 200
England soccer supporters on Saturday after they clashed with
German fans, throwing bottles and chairs and trading punches in
a square in the center of Stuttgart.

Tens of thousands of English and German fans had gathered
in the central area, many drinking throughout the day, to watch
Germany’s 2-0 second-round World Cup win over Sweden on big
screen TVs.

England fans were in the city for Sunday’s second-round
match against Ecuador and trouble broke out shortly after the
end of Saturday’s German game.

Some 200 fans on both sides threw bottles and chairs before
riot police moved into the area to separate them.

After an uneasy standoff, the two sets of fans again threw
glass bottles at each other, prompting the riot police to drive
the German fans out of the area.

They then moved in to detain the English supporters who
were bundled into waiting vans and taken to the local police
station in an operation that lasted for several hours.

“The cells will be very busy tonight,” Stuttgart police
spokesman Stefan Kielbach said.

“It’s like a theater here, and if we don’t arrest them
there’ll be trouble here all night.”

He said both sets of fans had been to blame for the
violence. Some German supporters were also seen being dragged
away by riot police while one German man left the area with
blood on his face.

VIOLENT HISTORY

The English have a long history of soccer-related violence
but there has been little trouble in Germany so far, with only
a small number of arrests for mostly drunken behavior or people
trying to get into a stadium without a ticket.

Banning orders issued before the tournament began prevented
some 3,700 known trouble makers from traveling to Germany.

However 122 people were detained in Stuttgart on Friday
night for drunken and aggressive behavior and they are expected
to be held until the game on Sunday has been played.

Under German law police can detain individuals for
threatening behavior or if they suspect they are likely to
commit a crime and it does not constitute a full arrest.

Those held in Stuttgart on Saturday were also detained
under preventative orders.

Earlier, Germany had beaten Sweden in Munich to reach the
quarter-finals of the World Cup.