Belgium issues security measures for World Cup

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in June, which will see Belgium’s Red Devils on the pitches for the first time in 12 years, a security strategy is to be circulated to all municipal authorities to ensure that planned televised matches in public pass off peacefully. The move comes in the wake of a Belgium-Turkey match in Ghent three years ago which ended in riots and left 30 wounded.

In a 15-page-long circular letter destined for governors, mayors and police chiefs, Minister of the Interior Joëlle Milquet urges local administrations to issue fines to football fans committing punishable offences such as throwing objects, inciting hatred and letting off fireworks at any public televised match. The detailed document is, wrote the Minister’s cabinet, “a sort of tool box for all concerned parties, particularly towns and communes which have little experience of organising such gatherings, to ensure that events pass off in a festive yet safe manner.”