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Sporting events keep police busy

Every week 900 police officers are needed to keep the peace at football and ice hockey matches in Switzerland, at a cost of SFr25 million ($24.7 million) a year.

This content was published on October 19, 2009 - 11:43

The exact figures vary according to season, region and club, according to the Federal Police Office's hooliganism section, which provided the data following a request by senator Karin Keller-Sutter.

The cantons, which are responsible for security issues, must now take control and come up with suggestions regarding hooliganism, said the parliamentarian from the centre-right Radical Party.

Politicians and the police had to work on security concepts and give them to the clubs, she added.

In June Swiss football authorities announced sanctions after a series of violent incidents prompted criticism from Sepp Blatter, the Swiss president of Fifa, the world footballing body.

Twenty fans from Swiss Cup finalists Young Boys Bern and FC Sion were banned from all stadiums for up to three years for violent acts and using fireworks after the match in Bern on May 20. The Bern club was also fined SFr30,000.

In May Blatter said Switzerland had a hooligan problem and was "five to ten years" behind the rest of Europe in tackling the issue.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

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