Soccer: Hooligan shadow darkens World Cup

Fears that violence will overshadow next year's World Cup in Germany were raised yesterday as police investigated a secret battle between 100 hooligans near Berlin.

The violence broke out on Monday between known troublemakers from Berlin and about 50 who chartered a bus to cross the border from Poland.

German anti-hooliganism police had been tipped off but arrived too late to prevent the fight, which took place in woodland at Briesen, off the motorway linking Berlin and Poland. Hooligans who suffered cuts and bruises refused treatment and police were unable to make any arrests as they had not seen the fighting.

It is thought that among the German gang was Karl-Heinz Elschner, a ringleader of a group who beat up a French policeman during the 1998 World Cup in France, leaving him wheelchair-bound.

The fight strengthens concerns among hooligan experts about the potential for violence from Poland next summer.

Football authorities and police hope Poland will not be in the same group as Germany when the World Cup draw is made at Leipzig on December 9.

- INDEPENDENT