Despite heavy police reinforcements, French authorities were unable to control English and Tunisian soccer fans in Marseille yesterday. A dozen more men were arrested when warring supporters pelted one another with bottles and stones in front of the Stade Velodrome before the England-Tunisia match, and violence broke out again on Prado Beach, where those without tickets were watching the match on giant screens.
Later in the evening in Paris, several German supporters were arrested outside the Parc des Princes Stadium before the Germany-US match. The Germans threw bottles at police, and vandalised cars.
The French Interior Minister, Mr Jean-Pierre enement, Chevenement, asked that hooligans be deported immediately in the event of further incidents.
English fans arriving at Marignane Airport and the St Charles station in Marseille yesterday were escorted to waiting coaches and driven either to the stadium or to Prado Beach - but not allowed to wander to the centre.
"Alcohol is the root of the problem," Mr Michel Sappin, the chief of Marseille police said. Local authorities banned all sale of carryout alcoholic beverages from 4.30 in the afternoon, and bars were ordered to shut at 11 p.m. instead of the usual 4 a.m. closing time.
The French sports daily L'Equipe agreed with the police chief. "This violence is not gratuitous," the newspaper said.
French commentators said the violence in Marseille, in which more than 50 people were injured, was the worst since English hooligans ran amok in Spain in 1982. England's chances of holding the World Cup in 2006 have been seriously hurt, they added.
The search for scapegoats has started. Why were the 11 hooligans arrested on Friday night in Calais freed and allowed to go on to Marseille? Why were French police unable to control the crowds better?
"Kids from here were throwing things at us," a couple from Coventry told Le Monde. "The police didn't react - it was unbelievable."
Local merchants and restaurant owners complained bitterly that riot police did nothing to protect their property.
But the police chief, Mr Sappin, seemed to blame the match organisers. "The events in Marseille are the result of a collective drinking binge that started two days ago," he said. "This match should never have been scheduled for a Monday afternoon. It allowed a gang of fanatics to take advantage of the weekend to wreak havoc. Almost none of the Englishmen we arrested had tickets."
So far the date of the next English match - against Romania on Monday, June 22nd, in Toulouse - has not been changed. But following the violence in Marseille, Toulouse authorities yesterday asked for police reinforcements and the city's mayor cancelled a music festival scheduled for next Sunday night.
Agencies report:
The British government said that the French should take whatever action they felt appropriate to deal with violent English hooligans at the World Cup in France.
Britain had made clear to the French authorities that "they have the British government's absolute and total support in cracking down on the hooligan English element in whatever way they see fit," the Prime Minister's official spokesman told a news conference. "These people are a complete disgrace to the country," he added.
In the House of Commons, the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, hit out at the "treacherous behaviour" of the English football hooligans.
Two England supporters were last night sentenced to three months in jail after being found guilty of criminal damage and inciting other fans to riot in Marseille on Sunday.