Security remains a concern at Cup

RUSTENBURG, South Africa – A noted British hooligan was detained by police at the airport in Johannesburg Friday and sent home later that day.
Apparently it was tougher to get into the country than into Royal Bafokeng Stadium Saturday when the U.S. met England in a Group C World Cup match.

Despite the presence of football jersey Vice President Joe Biden, it’s fair to say security at the stadium was not as tough as Americans have grown to expect at some sporting events in the United States. Call it tight but not impenetrable.
Several police perimeters were set up around the stadium, some as far as 2 1/2 miles away – but those were used mainly to stop vehicles and direct them to far off park-and-rides locations.
Three more police checkpoints closer to the stadium were filled with several officers, but cars were not heavily checked. In fact, it was possible to drive all the way into the final perimeter.
Security – a concern at all major worldwide sporting events since 9/11 – has been an issue for this World Cup since it was awarded to South Africa six years ago. Teams, journalists and fans have found out why as numerous muggings and robberies have marked the opening days.
On Saturday, the Uruguayan soccer association said its executive board president, Ernesto Rodriguez Altez, had more than $4,000 taken from the safe in his Cape Town hotel room, and TV New Zealand’s correspondent and cameraman were robbed of all their equipment at the FIFA-approved Sparkling Waters hotel in Rustenburg, foreign editor Max Hayton said. Thieves smashed their hotel room door when the two were out to dinner, he said. The estimated loss was $100,000.
South African authorities are attempting to maintain peace, moving quickly when needed. On Saturday, a court – one of 56 set up specifically to handle World Cup issues – sentenced three thieves to a total of new jersey nfl 34 years in prison for robbing foreign journalists.
The sentencings came from an incident last Wednesday in a town northwest of Johannesburg, where three journalists (two from Portugal, one from Spain) were robbed of money, camera equipment, laptops and mobile phones. One of the journalists was robbed at gunpoint.
“It took police no more than 24 hours to arrest these lunatic scoundrels,” South Africa minister of police Nathi Mthetwa said in a statement. “It further took the justice department no more than 48 hours to sentence them. Now this is what we have been echoing: that we will act with swiftness on any criminality.”
At the U.S.-England game, security tightened a bit once inside the stadium as fans had to go through metal detectors and then scanning machines that validated each ticket. At least they were supposed to.
One American fan, Mindy Dougherty from New York, said she did not go through a metal detector – though she did have her plastic water bottles taken away. Other women, she added, were scanned with a wand.
The hooligan is a 42-year-old British male who allegedly has a history of nfl football jerseys inciting racially motivated violence at sporting events and was detained after flying into South Africa on Friday, police spokeswoman Sally de Beer said. He was to be deported later in the day.