Guests in a high security wing – the preparations for the world cup 2006
by Heiner Busch
„The world is our guest – a time to make friends“, this is the motto of the world cup 2006. As a welcome, Germany is positioning 100.000 police officers, 10.000 private security employees, an unknown number of secret security agents and 7.000 soldiers. Large parts of the Federal Republic will develop into a police-controlled area. CCTV surveillance will not only take place in the stadiums, but also in the enclosed „public viewing areas“. 250.000 people, those who will enter the stadiums without tickets as journalists, volunteers, hot dog sellers or cleaning staff, will have to undergo a security check by the internal security service (Verfassungsschutz).

With questionnaires and RFID-tickets towards a data world champion
by padeluun
The organisation committee of the FIFA, that is the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußballbund – DFB), will implement an electronic ticket system for the world championship. The tickets have an integrated RFID chip, which is scanned on entry to the stadium, thereby assigning the chip to a specific person. The necessary data is provided by the fans themselves: they have to fill in a detailed questionnaire on ordering the tickets.

The Central Information Point for Sports Events
by Martina Kant
The creation of meaningful situation reports on violent and violent-prone football fans and the coordination of security measures with national and foreign police before and during the games. These are the principal tasks of the Central Information Point for Sports Events for the world cup 2006. However, the ZIS also collects and manages a whole range of data not related to big events – and not only on hooligans.

How EU police cooperate on football matters
by Heiner Busch
Since the end of the 1980s, EU police cooperation on football events has developed into an elaborate system: the foreign spotters are present in particular at the bigger tournaments; during the world cup, they are even said to be given powers of arrest. National Football Information Points not only exchange increasingly elaborate risk analyses, but also personal data. Internal EU border controls will be temporarily reintroduced. Some Member States have even imposed banning orders, preventing fans from leaving the country. The cooperation in football matters also serves as a testing ground for the management of international protests, such as summits.

Football fans: between advertising medium and hooligan
by Matthias Bettag
For those profiting from the football industry, fans represent advertising mediums, who ensure the right atmosphere in the stadium. For the police, they represent potential hooligans. By means of repressive measures, young men in particular are socially stigmatised through their confrontation with state power. To these groups, the police has become an enemy, which is far more concrete and more threatening than the rival fan of the other team.

The treatment of football fans at international tournaments
by Wilko Zicht
„Culture is not for football fans, they only understand the police baton.“ This statement by a German football official prior to the 1988 European championship characterised the treatment of fans for a long time. The experience of the European and World Cups of the past 20 years shows: to ensure a positive tournament, the fans and their interests should not only be treated as a security risk.

Ceuta and Melilla: Europe’s border in Africa
by Rafael Lara
The barbered-wire fences around Ceuta and Melilla have become a symbol of the closed borders of the EU. In late 2005, African refugees and migrants undertook desperate attempts to storm the border defences around the two Spanish enclaves on the south side of the Straits of Gibraltar. At least 14 people lost their lives, mostly through police shots. In violation of national law and international treaties, the Spanish government has returned many migrants to Morocco. Under pressure of the Spanish government and the EU, Morocco has taken on the role of a police assistant.

G8-summit in Genoa 2001 on trial
by Anneke Halbroth
Almost 5 years have passed since the G8 summit in Genoa in the summer of 2001. What remains, are not only the images of the powerful protests, but also the memories of a summit that was marked by much police violence and repression. Several trials are currently taking place before the court in Genoa. In three of those, police officers, but also doctors and nursing staff stand accused; in a fourth proceeding, 25 Italian activists are standing trial.

The Constitutional Court declares „saving shot“ illegal
by Martin Kutscha
The clause in Germany’s Air Safety Act, which allows for planes suspected of being part of a terrorist act to be shot down, has now been declared unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in no uncertain terms. Government politicians have reacted to this sentence with calls for a change of the constitution; some demand the outright application of martial law in Germany.