-Caveat Lector-
>From http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2002/story/0,11224,718724,00.html
}}}>Begin
Japan mounts Operation Hooligan
Hosts in dread of the English disease
Travelling fans face fear and quarantine in the Far East, Jonathan Watts reports
from Tokyo
Jonathan Watts in Tokyo
Monday May 20, 2002
The Guardian
England have begun their far eastern odyssey by flying into an epidemic of foot-and-
mouth disease and an outbreak of panic about rabid English hooligans.
In South Korea, where Sven-Goran Eriksson's team are spending a mainly relaxing
week before heading to their base camp in Japan, the government is slaughtering
95,000 pigs and cattle to halt the spread of the disease that ravaged the British
countryside last year.
Three more cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed yesterday at two pig
farms in central South Korea yesterday. The Seoul government has called the
concerns "groundless" as outbreaks have been restricted to three districts some
distance from venues. The nearest World Cup cities are Suwon, 24 miles to the
north of the affected region, and Daejeon, 50 miles to the south.
"So far there has been no reports of the disease outside these areas," said Lee Hak-
soo of the agriculture and forestry ministry yesterday. "There could be more cases in
the region, but we don't think the disease will spread out to other cities."
England - and around 1,000 of their fans in South Korea - should escape the crisis.
The team is based on Jeju island, a honeymoon resort to the south of the
peninsula.They remain on the island to play the co-hosts at Seogwipo tomorrow.
Although the disease is harmless for humans, South Korea fears that any spread
could affect the World Cup. Last year, tourism to Britain nosedived as a result of
travel restrictions and morbid images of burning cattle corpses.
If there are any more cases, the Seoul government is ready to triple the cull to
300,000 animals. It has also banned low-flying aircraft over the affected areas,
ostensibly because of a risk that the disease could be airborne. But the real reason is
probably to avoid grim TV pictures of pyres of livestock.
England may soon find it harder, however, to ignore the sense of alarm about
English hooliganism, especially once they relocate to their Japanese base camp on
Awaji island at the end of this week. Japanese media and police have worked the
nation into a froth about the prospect of football violence, which is almost unknown in
this part of the world. In the biggest-ever police operation at a Japanese sporting
event, tens of thousands of officers are being put on alert against hooligans and
terrorists - in that order.
Anti-terrorist plans include Awacs (airborne warning and control system planes) flying
above stadiums during matches. Riot police will guard nuclear power plants, airport
security officials have staged mock ebola virus terrorist attacks and, in a first for
Japan, armed guards will be on every domestic flight. But the biggest security
resources are being targeted at England, which is rapidly becoming synonymous with
hooliganism here.
Police forces near England's venues will be armed with chemical sprays, leg braces
and spider-manesque net guns to ensnare thugs. For the past year, they have
staged mock riots at stadiums in anticipation of trouble from "furigans" (hooligans).
Near Nagai stadium in Osaka, where England play Nigeria on June 12, elementary
and junior high schools will close on match days so that pupils are not caught up in
any violence.
With repeated footage of hooligans on the rampage on television and on videos
provided by the police, even this has not stopped parents worrying. "I'll make sure
the kids stay home, keep the dog indoors and then lock the door and wait until they
go away," said Hiromi Omae as she walked her pet around Nagai stadium. "I don't
mean to be rude to the English, but from what I've seen the hooligans are terrifying."
The shopkeepers' association at Nishitanabe, five minutes from Nagai stadium, took
out the country's first hooligan insurance policy last week. For £25 each, the
retailers
are jointly covered for £55,000 worth of damage during the length of the World Cup.
Near the Sapporo Dome, where England take on Argentina on June 7, worried car
dealers plan to move their vehicles to a safer place and put the shutters up on all
match days. Barbers' shops are considering closing because scissors are deemed
potential weapons.
In part, this reflects a fear of the unknown. Japan has hosted major sporting events
before - notably the 1964 summer Olympics and the Winter Games of 1972 and
1998 - but soccer fans are being treated very differently.
Misconceptions abound, especially in the most remote venues where foreigners
number less than one in a thousand residents and heads turn at the sight of
strangers - even without tattoos and shaven heads. In Hokkaido and Sendai,
northern Japan, many hotels are refusing to accept bookings from foreigners and
local newspapers report that taxi drivers plan to skip work on match days.
In Oita, in Japan's deep south, where England could play in the later stages, a local
newspaper reporter asked British embassy officials whether guns or knives were the
weapons of choice for hooligans.
At its most extreme, the over-reaction has smacked of unabashed racism.
In provincial Miyagi, a councillor warned the local assembly to brace themselves for
wicked foreigners who sell cocaine and run off without paying their hotel bills. "Given
the exceptional mood of the event, we must also face the possibility of unwanted
babies conceived by foreigners who rape our women," said Takayoshi Konno, who is
in the same Liberal Democratic Party as the prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Konno said that he would be just as worried if England do not play in Miyagi. "The
hooligans might still come. And from the terrible scenes that we have seen on the
television, it is clear we must prepare for the worst."
One way or another, it seems England and their fans have to endure a form of
quarantine before they can concentrate on football.
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