Poland’s capital Warsaw was bracing Tuesday for what authorities have dubbed its “greatest ever” security challenge, as the national side plays old foe Russia in a must-win Euro 2012 match on home turf.
Centuries of bad blood and suspicion between them and pockets of fans on both sides with a reputation for violence are stoking fears that clashes could erupt even before the opening whistle.
But a planned friendly match scheduled for noon local time in Warsaw between Polish and Russian fans is also sending out a message of peace.
Another gesture was made Monday when fans from both sides joined forces laying wreathes to honour Poles and Russians killed in World War II.
In a march that will itself make history, thousands of Russian fans are set to cross a central Warsaw bridge to the brand-new National Stadium for Tuesday’s second Group A fixture on what also happens to be the visitors’ national day.
“We will be keeping a constant eye on any possible threats,” Poland’s interior minister Jacek Cichocki warned Monday, at once qualifying the security operation as the “greatest-ever challenge for law and order forces in the capital”.
Poland’s Euro 2012 spokesman, Marcin Hera, confirmed that 9,800 Russian and 29,300 Polish fans had tickets for the match.
Russia come into the game on a high after thumping the Czech Republic 4-1 in their first game but Poland drew 1-1 with Greece, making a win a must if they are to go through to the last eight.
Some 6,000 policemen are on duty in the capital during Euro 2012 but Warsaw police spokesman Maciej Karczynski refused to say how many will be deployed in Tuesday’s vast pre-and-post match security operation.
“UEFA is directly responsible for security in the stadiums and it did not consider the Poland-Russia game to be a high security risk,” Karczynski said.
Warsaw’s city security chief Ewa Gawor meanwhile said police would intervene as soon as “anyone breaks the law”.
Russia fans had agreed to begin making their way to the stadium at 5:00 pm before the 8:45 pm kick-off, she added.
“I’ve got just one hope: that supporters from both sides create a beautiful atmosphere in this grand stadium,” Poland’s PZPN football chief Grzegorz Lato told a news conference at the match venue.
“We do not want to mix sports and politics,” insisted Poland’s former star striker on the eve of the match.
“There’s certainly a very difficult game ahead of us. Russia isn’t just the group favourite but also a team which is aiming very high at the championships.
“They made an excellent impression against the Czechs but you can’t play at the same level twice,” he added.