German hooligans 'planned to attack England fans'

German hooligans planned to attack England fans at two of the three World Cup group games, but were foiled by the police, it emerged today.

Dozens of troublemakers wanted to launch an assault on the English in Cologne for last night’s match with Sweden, but more than 40 were arrested, the city’s police chief said.

The game was drawn 2-2 and England, winners of Group B, now play Ecuador in Stuttgart on Sunday.

Police chief Klaus Steffenhagen told reporters: “We received intelligence during the day that there were several small groups of German hooligans who were on their way to Cologne, to cause trouble and especially to attack English fans, but with the work of our spotters we were able to contain them and identify the places where they were meeting.”

Dieter Klinger, the operational commander, said many of the hooligans were local.

In one operation, 25 were arrested, 18 of them in Cologne and seven in neighbouring towns, he said.

In another intervention, at the Alter Markt square, police arrested 18 known German troublemakers.

“The group was taken out of action and nothing else happened,” he said.

Asked if it was possible England fans could be targeted by German hooligans again, he said: “We normally get such intelligence at short notice, but there was similar intelligence before the match in Frankfurt (where England played Paraguay).

“There were plans to attack before the match, but police took swift action to prevent that.”

He said they would liaise with colleagues in Stuttgart so they would know what had happened in Cologne.

He added: “This is not just done by local police forces, but co-ordinated at federal level.”

He said there were 25,000 English people at the game. There were 35,000 to 40,000 more in the city, making a total of 60,000 to 70,000.

The game passed off with no major incidents involving England supporters.

But 22 English fans were arrested in minor incidents in the city. Most have already been released, a spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said.

She added that 11 of the 22 arrests were at the stadium, and the others were in the city.

One of the arrests in the city was for an alleged assault, one for threatening behaviour, and the other nine were to prevent problems happening.

The arrests at the stadium were mainly for drunkenness, and trying to enter without a ticket.

Two supporters were still being held today, but it was thought that those arrests had happened later than the others and they would be released in due course.

Last night, there was a brief stand-off between several dozen fans and a line of riot police in the Alter Markt, scene of trouble on Monday night.

The England fans chanted and threw four or five chairs and some bottles towards a line of police. The police then moved in and dispersed them.

At least two men in England shirts, one with bloodied hands, were seen being led away.