German fans clash with police, 300 supporters in custody

Jun 14, 2006, 23:16 GMT

Dortmund - Authorities detained about 300 football fans Wednesday as German supporters clashed with police before and during their team's World Cup match with Poland, throwing chairs and bottles as they resisted custody.

About 60 Polish fans also were placed under temporary arrest to prevent violence between the two camps, police said.

The tournament's first major trouble by German fans began after Dortmund police cornered what they described as about 100 known football hooligans to take them into temporary custody.

The fans rioted and several dozen broke out and got away, chased by riot police. Several people suffered minor injuries, police said.

Tens of thousands of Polish fans flocked to Dortmund to watch the evening match in the 60,000-seat Westfalen Stadium or on giant screens set up around town.

Earlier, police said they took 60 Poles into custody for their own protection. A Briton and a Pole who were on a list of suspected hooligans were turned back at the city's airport after arriving by plane from London.

Police bused at least 30 of the Poles from downtown Dortmund to an assembly point. All of the Poles were taken into custody for their own protection, police said.

Across Germany, hundreds of thousands of football fans partied peacefully into the night as Germany's second match of the tournament and hot weather drew people into the streets as never before during this year's World Cup.

Berlin authorities said half a million packed the party zone on the western side of the capital's signature Brandenburg Gate, the longest World Cup 'fan mile,' where the Dortmund game was shown on nine big screens.

In Dortmund, there was a heavy and watchful police presence all day as Polish and German fans poured into the city, chanting and forming up in large groups.