Hooligans to face nationwide measures
Cantonal police authorities have reiterated calls for further steps to clamp down on hooligan violence at sport events.
The measures include the deployment of police observers at matches, the nationwide introduction of summary courts as well as transport restrictions for fans, Karin Keller-Sutter, president of the cantonal police and justice directors, is quoted by several Sunday newspapers.
The proposals, still to be discussed by the representatives of the more than 20 cantons, would make football and ice-hockey matches subject to official approval by the authorities, overruling the sport associations or individual clubs.
For the first time in the history of Switzerland’s professional football a match was abandoned last week amid hooligan violence in Zurich.
The number of people registered in a special hooligan database has reached a record 1,188, twice as many as in 2009, according to the Federal Police Office.
Most of them are banned from stadiums or are put under other restraining orders.
The head of the Federal Sport Office, Matthias Remund, has reportedly come out in favour of a mandatory identification of football spectators at the stadium, as well as a ban on fireworks and flags on terraces.
A month ago the federal authorities announced they were giving up efforts to coordinate efforts to clamp down on hooliganism, saying the 26 cantons had to come up with their own strategies.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
Contributions under this article have been turned off. You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.