Fewer British officers at Euro 2016 than World Cup 10 years ago, despite 500,000 exodus

Even though there are three UK nations competing, France request is lower than that from Germany 2006

French police resources will be stretched during Euro 2016 (epa)

British police will have fewer officers at this summer’s European Championship than they did at the World Cup in Germany 10 years ago, despite the exodus of a record 500,000 people from these shores to the continent in June.

The presence of three UK nations – England, Wales and Northern Ireland - means at least 150,000 more fans will travel this summer than to the Germany when England were the sole representatives in 2006. But the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) can only send as many of its own officers as the host country requests and despite the heightened terror threat, France has asked for fewer than Germany did for its tournament.

Senior officers - who want supporters’ empathy over France’s terror crisis to nurture compliance with local security services - believe that England’s match on June 11 against Russia in Marseilles poses a greater threat of violence at Euro 2016 than the Group B match with Wales. Russian supporters are potentially the most challenging of any nation in the competition and the match also falls within Ramadan, creating the prospect of larger than usual numbers of local youths forming part of the social mix in the city, which was the scene of ugly fighting at the 1998 World Cup.

British police have no jurisdiction in France and can only operate as ‘cultural interpreters’ on the ground – looking to head off British anti-social behaviour or criminality before local police, who will be less familiar with UK fans, get involved. Liaison with French police in host cities is already under way. Officers want the bonhomie between England and France fans when the sides played four days after the Paris attacks to be a motivating factor in June – when French police face the daunting task of policing a tournament spanning 10 host cities while the country is in a state of high terror alert.

The UKFPU is reluctant to disclose its own policing numbers on the ground in France for operational reasons, but officers on the ground aim to act as a buffer between fans and local police. The capacity to limit clashes with local police was seen before the friendly in Turin, in March 2015, when ‘spotters’ – as operational offices are known - prevented anti-social behaviour and drunkenness escalating into clashes with the local Carabinieri. The Carabinieri were instead persuaded that the scenes in several Turin bars was not going to turn violent and that the British officers could handle it. A potential serious incident was avoided.

The risk of clashes is always greater with overseas forces who are less familiar with the behaviour of the small percentage of problem British fans. When the Republic of Ireland hosted England in Dublin last June the match passed off virtually without incident, despite fears to the contrary – largely because of the Garda’s familiarity with policing an environment where there has been excess drinking.

British police are ready to use banning orders to prevent troublemakers travelling to the continent, with the process of requesting 2,000 fans currently on banning orders to surrender their passports is already under way. There will also be a police presence at British ports in June, where supporters deemed a risk to public order will be prevented from travelling and brought before courts. Though some fans prevented from travelling to previous tournaments will now be free to do so because they have served their banning orders, Britain is the only nation at the Euros which has banning order legislation in place.

The risk of clashes is always greater with overseas forces who are less familiar with the behaviour of the small percentage of problem British fans

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For the first time, the UKFPU have also set up a dedicated London-based team of detectives to tackle violence, criminality or anti-social behaviour during the tournament. The unit will use social media and CCTV images as an intelligence asset to launch their own investigations, rather than wait for their French counterparts to involve them.

Police intend to learn lessons from a racist attack by Chelsea fans on the Paris Metro in their attempts to deal with potential criminality. The attack on commuter Souleymane Sylla in February was captured by a passer-by in footage which went viral and senior British officers anticipate the visibility of similar anti-social behaviour next summer provoking clamour here to apprehend the perpetrators.