British Cops to Guard Bulgaria-England Clash in Sofia - 31/08/2011

Source : Novinite.com

Bulgarian police officers will be assisted by their British counterparts at the Euro 2012 qualifier between England and Bulgaria on Friday, it has been announced.

"We have established joint measures to prevent hooliganism on the margins of the Bulgaria-England match" on Friday, Biser Ivanov, head of the police unit dealing with football hooligans, has told the Bulgarian National Radio, as cited by The Times.

Even though the British police officers will not have powers to arrest offenders themselves, they are expected to cooperate. A total of 12 "spotters," tasked with pinpointing known hooligans in a crowd, will travel to Bulgaria for Friday's game.

Some 3000 British fans are expected to attend the clash, which is to take place at Sofia's Vasil Levski stadium.

It was recently announced that Bulgaria's popular southern Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach demands British police officers to patrol it during the next tourist season. The British police officers' presence would create some respect in the British tourists who often create trouble, the chair of the Sunny Beach hotel owners' union explained.