WORLD CUP 2010:SOUTH AFRICAN police chiefs yesterday promised unprecedented levels of security for players, officials and fans during the World Cup, vowing to learn the lessons of the attack on Togo footballers in Angola. England players will be escorted by armed police and security guards as they travel from the airport to their training camp in Rustenburg and then head south for their final two group games in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

Bheki Cele, the South African Police Service national commissioner, said attacks on Sri Lanka’s cricketers in Lahore and the Togo team bus in Cabinda had changed the sports security landscape.

“We have an overall plan for the event but we also have an overall plan for the teams in specific areas, like their travelling routes from airports to their hotels, base camps, training, and playing,” he said.

Cele was speaking after a two-day security seminar in Zurich had brought together security chiefs from 29 of the 32 countries competing in this summer’s World Cup, organisers, Fifa executives and national police.

The South African police said fans would be welcomed to a “fiesta” but warned they would face a “zero tolerance” approach if they stepped out of line.

Interpol, one of several security agencies present for the talks, said it was confident its intelligence gathering would “identify people who are known to disrupt international major events such as this”.

“Interpol will deploy its largest ever team of experts,” said Christopher Eaton, head of operations.

Cele said the political climate and security arrangements at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola could not be compared to the South African World Cup but admitted the Togo attack had impacted on their plans.

“If you move from South Africa to Cabinda, you fly four hours and cover 4,000kms,” he said. “But there were lessons learned by the security team from South Africa. It has made us much better and brighter in terms of preparations.”

In January, three people were killed when the Togo team bus was attacked by armed rebels in the exclave of Cabinda.