England fans arrested over Nazi salute
June 7, 2022
Eight English football fans were arrested in Munich ahead of a Nations League game against Germany, city police confirmed to DW on Tuesday.
Three fans were arrested for performing the Nazi salute, police said. One person was arrested after letting off a flare in their hotel room, one fan was arrested for urinating in public and two were arrested for insulting a police officer.
It is a crime in Germany to perform the Nazi salute, punishable with up to three years in prison, although tourists are often just fined for the offensive gesture.
The fan who let off a pyrotechnic flare lit the flare from their window, but managed to fill the first floor of the hotel with smoke, setting off fire alarms, according to the Munich fire brigade.
Unconfirmed images posted on social media showed the neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic "Millwall Berserkers" hooligan group was in the city, displaying their banners in various points around the city.
British newspaper The Times and Sky Sports News reported seeing fans chant offensive anti-German WWII as well as IRA songs amid drunken scenes.
The overnight arrests came after British coach Gareth Southgate warned England fans against misbehaving in Germany. In an interview, he said "you feel ashamed when you hear about it" and that it reflected poorly on the country and the team.
Fans generally calm
The police spokesman told DW that the fans were "overall very very calm" and that "the mood in the city was very, very peaceful."
He said isolated incidents were to be expected, and that while there may be a handful more arrests, overall it had been a quiet operation for police so far.
An estimated 5,000 England fans are in the Bavarian capital for the game against Germany at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena.
The city has imposed a glass bottle ban in the city center for the time the fans are there.
According to the SID news agency, 880 known English hooligans had to surrender their passports ahead of the game.
It is England's first significant, full-capacity international game since the coronavirus pandemic. Fans have reportedly attempted to bypass the limit on England fan tickets by buying tickets with their local hotel address registered.
The game also follows comparatively soon after the chaos in Paris before and after the Champions League final that disproportionately affected supporters of English club Liverpool.
Edited by Mark Hallam.