Sports » Euro 2008 co-host Austria tightens hooligan laws

23 June 2007   12:14 (IST) News Archives

The Austrian government has agreed to introduce a new anti-hooligan measures to deal with potential local troublemakers at next year's European Championship finals.

Following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the government announced that known hooligans would be told to report to police stations four hours before particular matches in an effort to stop them causing trouble at stadiums.

The new rules, which still need parliamentary approval, were originally criticised by Justice Minister Maria Berger who said the concept of ''preventative custody'' could violate civil liberties.

Berger has said that the phrase had been removed from the government's new wording, which instead calls for past offenders to be lectured on Austrian law during their visit to the police station.

Austria and neighbouring Switzerland are staging the 2008 tournament which runs from 7th June till the 29th June.

Switzerland has already introduced similar anti-hooligan measures which came into force at the beginning of this year.

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