Football: German police chief calls for clubs to stand up to hooligans

BERLIN - German football clubs were on Monday slammed by the national police union (DPolG) for not doing enough to stamp out hooliganism in the game.

"We urge federations and clubs to finally take action against hooligans who travel for away games and not to focus solely on security in stadia," DPolG president Horst Pawlik said.

Pawlik said the world of football was not assuming their "responsibility" in the fight against hooliganism and "offloading" the problem onto the police. He cited as an example Hanover 96's clash with Eintracht Braunschweig on November 8 when some 14 police officers were hurt and four fans were arrested and dozens more injured.

Police had deployed dozens of extra officers for the match at the HDI Arena where 47,200 fans had packed into the stadium.

They used water cannons, batons and pepper spray on fans outside the stadium before kick-off in a bid to keep rival fans apart.

He welcomed the initiative of Borussia Dortmund, who banned 'ultra' fan groups from away games following trouble at the Ruhr derby last month.

"I'd like more action like this to be taken against the troublemakers," added Pawlik.