Shoddy shields leave hooligan riot squad red-faced

From the Bolton Evening News, first published Wednesday 19th Jun 2002.

HAVE the Japanese over-estimated the threat of the so-called English soccer hooligan?

All is quiet on the Eastern Front so far, but Ryann Connell, Staff Writer of the Shukan Asahi weekly newspaper, thinks he knows why.

He writes:

OK, so the hooligans that everybody was scared of have done us all a favor and stayed away from the World Cup. Or have they?

Don't forget, England, home of the hooligan, hasn't lost a World Cup match yet. And some hasten to point out that while it's true the sun never set on the British Empire, many believe that's because the English couldn't be trusted in the dark.

Perhaps it's just as well the Old Dart's demons have crawled into their holes. Because the 170 million yen the National

Police Agency spent to equip thousands of its riot squad members with special transparent shields supposed to be the ultimate weapon in fighting football's fools could turn out to be the shoddiest defense since the Saudi Arabian team that let through eight goals against the Germans.

"During training, an officer who was playing a hooligan slammed into m shield, which loosened the screws on its handle," a riot squad officer tells Shukan Asahi. "After that, the shield was shaking around in my hand. I couldn't keep it still. It was useless."

Riot squad officers are supposed to counter rampaging hooligans by forming a line and using their shields to pummel the thugs into the ground. But things haven't quite worked out that way.

"If the shield gets hit a few times, the handle gets so loose it's a waste of time trying to use it any longer," another riot squad member says.

Click HERE for more stories from Japan courtesy of the Mainichi Daily News

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