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Digital Fan Embassy. For the lucky supporters who are in
Japan and Korea for the World Cup, the Supporters Organizations of England,
Italy and Germany have – as always- fan embassies on the spot. But because
Japan and Korea are big we can’t be everywhere at the same time. For all supporters in Japan and Korea,
but also for those who watch the world cup at home, we made a digital fan
embassy. World Cup news and information |
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Monster score:
Germany – Saudi Arabia : 8 – 0 Thomasson beats Uruguay: 2-1 World Cup ticket
distribution complete chaos. Friday 31 may
2002 3000
tickets for disabled are missing. Its seems inevitable: the chaos around tickets for football
tournaments. After the ticket disaster in France in ’98 UEFA tried to do a better
job at Euro 2000. A lot was improved then, but FIFA is not UEFA and Japan and
Korea have not yet enough experience with football. So all old failures are
made again, with the same old result: thousands of football supporters who
have spend a lot of money to “be there” can do nothing more then chasing the
tickets they paid for. It’s no surprise that FIFA, that re-elected Sepp
Blatter who is accused of corruption, is not interested in the needs of the
millions of loyal football fans. While sponsors and VIP’s get loads of
tickets, leaving rows of empty seats in the stadiums, real supporters are
treated like shit and even 1 day before kick off, thousands of them are still
waiting for tickets they paid for weeks ago. 3000 disabled supporters,
already in Japan, yesterday heard the news that there tickets ‘are missing’. It’s
again a bloody shame! We advise
English supporters in Japan and Korea to contact the Fan Embassy for
information or reporting problems. Italian fans can attend the website of Progetto Ultra
and German fans can look for the KOS fan workers in Japan or visit the site
of the DFB. Japan bars British
'hooligans'
Tuesday 28 may 2002 Teruaki
Ueno The two men, whose names were withheld,
were detained at Tokyo's Narita International Airport shortly after arriving
on a flight from Istanbul on Sunday and would be ordered to leave Japan soon,
an immigration official said. One of the two men was among soccer fans whose
profiles were provided by foreign authorities, the official said. A team of
hooligan-spotters from the British police arrived in Japan on Monday to
advise the Japanese police on tactics for dealing with fans and spotting
potential trouble-makers at the World Cup, which runs from May 31 to June 30.
Ron Hogg, assistant chief constable of Durham police in England, said shortly
after reaching Narita airport that close cooperation between his team and
Japanese police would effectively keep hooligans at bay. 'It certainly does have a bit of a deterrent effect,
the fact that we are here,' Hogg told reporters. 'I'm very confident that a
lot of cooperation is there and if we can maintain that, I'm sure we can, I'm
sure we can prevent any real disorder.' Last week, Hogg warned the Japanese
to expect violence at the World Cup but said he did not anticipate
large-scale disorder. Eleven English hooligans have managed to get tickets
for the World Cup, Hogg had said, but they were unlikely to get into Japan,
where England play their first-round matches. The 11, all of whom have criminal convictions and
got their tickets through soccer's world ruling body FIFA, were among 349
fans whose profiles were passed to the Japanese police by Britain's National
Criminal Intelligence Service.The Japanese authorities decided to refuse
entry to 197 and to subject the other 152 to 'intensive immigration checks'
which could lead to them being refused entry. South Korea, which is co-hosting the soccer tournament
with Japan, refused entry to a known British hooligan last week. English fans
ran amok in Marseilles during the 1998 World Cup in France and two years ago
at the European championship held in Belgium and the Netherlands. About 6,000
to 8,000 England fans are expected to make the long and expensive journey
east, a fraction of the number that travelled to France for the last World
Cup in 1998. Japanese police say about 7,000 officers will be mobilised on
the northern island of Hokkaido during the finals. The police are renting a
ferry boat to ship hooligans from Sapporo on Hokkaido, where England play
Argentina on June 7, to Tokyo before deporting them. Thousands of police,
both in uniform and in plain clothes, will be on guard in stadiums, while broader
security measures include no-fly zones for commercial planes over stadiums
and patrols by hi-tech military radar planes. Source:
soccernet.com |
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HOW
DANGEROUS IS JAPAN FOR EUROPEAN SUPPORTERS? Earthquakes. European supporters in Japan may face
some unknown situations that bring them into serious trouble. Summer is known
as the earthquake season in Japan. The Japanese are used to earthquakes that occur
more than 100 times a year. But for European supporters it probably is a new
experience to feel the earth tremble and not knowing what to do can cause a
slight panic. If an earthquake
strikes when you’re in the stadium you will get immediate instructions (in
English) by the stadium speaker. But if you are shopping somewhere in town
and groceries starts to fall down from the racks, no one will tell you what
to do. A normal reaction is to try to leave the building as soon as possible.
The best advise we can give you is to do exactly the same as the majority of
the Japanese people around you do, because they have experience in this. Not
very clear is what happens when an earthquake interrupts a match. The FIFA
regulations have no rules for such an event. The general advise for European
supporters in the event of an earthquake is: never panic; follow instructions
precisely when you’re in a stadium; if you’re somewhere else: try to get on
the open street and stay away from (big) buildings; do what the Japanese do. Police. The Japanese police is not used to the
habits and rituals of European supporters. They will be nervous, especially
the first week. If you have a close encounter with Japanese police: remember
that respect is very important in Japanese culture. The policeman probably
can’t understand you so he will react on the tone of your voice and on your
body language. So don’t talk loud and fast, but quiet and slow. Don’t make
sudden movements and don’t come to close to him. Try to look friendly, but don’t
smile, because he might think you’re laughing at him. Policemen will talk
little and if they do, it will probably be loud and short if the situation is
in their eyes tense. This can sound very unfriendly, but most of the time it
isn’t, so don’t react insulted or angry. Japanese can’t imagine that you
start singing loud in the open. That’s no reason not to do it, but give the
policeman who’s watching this ‘strange’ behavior a polite nod now and then,
while you’re partying. But remember: never give him a friendly slap on the
back or try to dance with him, because physical contact can be seen as no
respect for him and his function. Tip: most European countries have send
policemen to Korea and Japan to assist the local police. In case of trouble
ask for a policeman of your country. Or ask for someone of the European fan
embassy from Football Supporters International (FSA, KOS, Progetto Ultra). |
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SOCRATES: “RECLAIM THE
GAME! “ Thursday 23 may 2002 One of the most elegant midfield generals in soccer history, Socrates, began his career in Botafogo. He was never a teenage star and didn’t make his debut in the Brazilian national team until he was 25. He was blessed with wonderful skills, vision and seemed to have so many options when he was on the ball. He was able to play the ball wherever and whenever he wanted. His heel-kicks became famous world wide. These rare skills combined with the fact that he was a medical student more than justified him being nicknamed “the doctor”. Socrates captained Brazil’s fantastic World Cup team of 1982 partnering Cerezo, Falcao and Zico in midfield. He scored twice in that tournament, one of them being a marvellous goal against the Soviet Union when he dribbled past two players before firing it home from long range. Socrates was not an ordinary athlete, in
fact he didn’t look at himself as an athlete. He smoked a pack of cigarettes
every day, and that was one of the reasons to why he never settled in Italy
when he arrived there in 1984 to play for Fiorentina. The lifestyle didn’t
suit him and he went back to Brazil a year later. Socrates, who now is a doctor, says it’s a shame how
money rules the game of football. Sponsors like Nike not only decide on what
shoes players should play, but also who’s playing, when the match starts,
etc. Therefore Socrates started a campaign to democratize football: “football
is the property of the supporters and the players!” he said. It’s not the playground of sponsors and
officials who only want to make quick money. They destroy the game of
football. It’s time to change the roles. We must reclaim the game now!!!” |
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MONDIALI
ANTIRAZZISTI Thursday 4th july – Sunday 7th july The "Mondiali Antirazzisti" has
been for many years an occasion to experiment with concrete actions against
racism and other kinds of discrimination. The participants, in fact, belong
to different cultures, religions, colours and countries. More than 1.500 persons representing more than 130 teams (male,
female and mixed ones) composed of Italian and European fan groups, migrant
associations coming from each part of the world, antiracist groups, youth
organisations, etc. will meet in a non-competitive tournament, which goes on
for 4 days. They can also have fun on and of the pitch, and
participate in a rich cultural programme. Present at the event, amongst
others: English, Polish and German fans: Italian fan groups from Bologna,
Terni, Genova, Perugia, Avellino; migrants communities from
Senegal, Pakistan, Chile, Moldavia Venue of the Mondiali:
Montecchio, Parco Enza e Centro Sportivo "S. D'Arzo" |
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For more football news: soccernet.com |