Russian police academy turns into World Cup nerve centre
Police representatives from all 32 competing countries will gather to share intelligence and spot troublemakers in World Cup crowds
Police from 33 countries are gathering under one roof for the World Cup as Russia prepares to deal with potential issues ranging from hooliganism and terrorism to backlash against local laws. The police representatives from all 32 competing countries will gather in a police academy on the edge of the forest outside Moscow to share intelligence and spot troublemakers in World Cup crowds.
At the centre, opened on Tuesday by Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, they’ll walk up a red carpet to the entrance, past a table football game and a large plastic model of World Cup mascot Zabivaka the wolf, before sitting at desks arranged by each team’s World Cup group.
‘Our task is to respond quickly, correctly and according to the law when trouble occurs,’ Kolokoltsev said.
The top British officer working at the tournament, Chief Inspector Joseph Stokoe, takes part amid diplomatic tension. Britain has accused Russia of using a nerve agent in the attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury in March, which Moscow denies. Stokoe says the aim is to ‘take politics out of policing.’ Hooliganism has been an issue at previous tournaments, and British police are hoping to help ensure exuberant fans aren’t mistaken for hooligans following clashes between Russia and England supporters in France at the 2016 European Championship.
‘I know how excitable and how much English fans can enjoy the occasion, drinking and singing, waving the flags,’ he said. ‘I know I need to try and explain to my Russian colleagues that isn’t a precursor to anything more than England fans enjoying themselves when they go to the match.’
Hooliganism is also a concern for Polish police captain Wojciech Dobrowolski after clashes between Polish and Russian supporters at the 2012 European Championship in Warsaw. Russian police representatives at the opening of the centre refused to take questions about their security strategy.
Local authorities have pointed to a blacklist of 451 fans banned from sports events by court order, though that number is lower than for similar programmes in many other European countries. People with knowledge of Russia’s hardcore fan scene have told journalists that as many as several thousand Russians have been refused a government issue Fan ID, making their World Cup tickets invalid.