World Cup Mode: Japan’s Cops Flunk First Exam
R. Sanborn Brown
Billed
as a "dry run" for the upcoming World Cup, the recent Kirin
Cup Japan-Ukraine friendly witnessed a massive display of force, with
some 3,000 security personnel on hand for the game. The Osaka Prefectural
and Metropolitan Police Departments sent a total of 1,100 police officers
to the March 22nd game held at Osaka’s Nagai Stadium. They were joined
by a contingent of 1,200 private security guards and 600 volunteers. To
avoid any problems, "Home" and "Away" fans were directed
to separate entrances on the basis of ticket color—red, green, blue,
or yellow—by bull-horn bearing guards. Fans were herded from JR Tsurugaoka
Station, JR Nagai Station, and the Nagai subway station to circle the
stadium through a series of preset checkpoints prior to being admitted.
The first of these was metal detectors; this was followed by ticket confirmation
and, finally, entrance into the ground itself. With a majority Japanese
crowd, tight security, and the above planning, expectations were high
that all would go smoothly.
At the entrance gate to the ground, however, a pile-up ensued because of the time involved in getting 45,000 fans through the three metal detector checkpoints. Many fans were unable to enter in time for the kick-off. Other fans only arrived at their seats at the twenty-minute mark of the first half as a result of the delays. According to a reporter from the Sankei Shinbun, Masaki Sasaki, ticket holders in wheelchairs had to wait three hours to be seated. Another reason for the inefficient crowd control was that anyone bringing in a beverage was required to remove and hand over the cap—lest the bottle become a missile later on—and pour a bit into a paper cup to test for alcohol. The extra tight security ended up backfiring and resulting in the above delays. Said one Japanese spectator: "If you make Osaka people wait too much, they get mad." Another fan noted that, "If these had been foreign fans and there were communication problems on top of all of this, you’re asking for big trouble." One Englishman in attendance only shook his head, "If these had been British hooligans on a hot day in June…"
The tabloid newspaper Nikkan Sports reported that the organizers and police were well prepared but still had "a lot of homework" to do, awarding them a "50" out of 100 for their efforts. The Head of JAWOC Security similarly conceded, "There were clearly some dangers with the route, and some fans were rerouted to a different gate—which caused the pile up. We need to think carefully about the problems that occurred today and work hard on fixing them prior to the World Cup."
Another tabloid, Sports Nippon, alluding to the above problem, noted that having had ticket-holders walk ten minutes from the station, police then forced them to detour to the entrance at the rear of the stadium. Hitoshi Ozawa, who traveled from near Tokyo to watch the match, complained about having to backtrack, "Even though the stadium is right over there—why do we have to go this way?"
Much of the Japanese media at the match was mystified by the proceedings as well. One newspaper reporter at the match to cover players on the national squad from his home prefecture pointed out two problems. First, he said, was the dearth of gates into the stadium and the resulting waiting time and lines. On top of that PR about what to expect was, prior to the match, wanting. All of which unnecessarily agitated the fans.
The second issue, surprisingly, was how lenient the check-in procedures were in his opinion. As a working journalist, he was carrying with him the tools of his trade—a single lens reflex camera, two zoom lenses, a PC, pens, etc.—and was subjected to only a minimal search. "They didn’t even open my bag. For all they knew, I could have had a pocketknife or other weapons. Flammable liquids, alcohol, almost anything could have been brought in easily."
"At the World Cup, you have to factor in that more than half of the fans will be foreign. Even at this game, at which the overwhelming majority of the fans were Japanese, there was a total lack of information," he continued. "How will authorities react to and deal with overseas fans? How will they inform these fans about what to expect at the matches. Through what media? With only two months left to go before kickoff, they need to think through their plans again."
The Sankei Shinbun’s Sasaki added, "Japan and the Japanese police have a lot of experience in hosting international events, but the World Cup is a beast of a totally different type. The police at this point do not really understand when, why, and what will spark hooligan-like behavior. As a major sport, soccer has a relatively brief history in Japan. Also, because of the excessively negative reporting by the Japanese media on soccer fans abroad, there is a lot of exaggerated and probably unnecessary anxiety leading up to the Cup."
Speaking on the recent match in Osaka, Sasaki argued that the time after the match necessary to leave the stadium was perhaps the largest problem. "It took fans two hours to go only 300 meters. Had these been fans from overseas, there may have been more problems." The Japanese police are still smarting from allegations of negligence that resulted in the deaths of eleven people last July at a fireworks display near Kobe. Children and the elderly were caught in a crush on an overpass leading from a train station to the beach, and many suffocated. The police were blamed in some quarters for failing to manage the crowd, and they are being careful to avoid a repeat.
There are several keys to making the World Cup a success in his opinion. First, Japanese fans need to better understand the culture of foreign supporters. Drinking, the removal of clothing, and the passions exhibited at the ground by football fans cannot automatically be equated with hooliganism. Japanese fans need to be aware of this and not overreact. On the security side, Sasaki continued, treatment of the disabled must be made a priority. "If someone in a wheelchair or with a hearing impairment has to wait three hours to get into the ground, you won’t be able to call it a successful World Cup."
Sasaki remains optimistic, though. Japan, he said, is very far and very expensive, which means that those fans who do make the trip will have money—and he assumes this will mean fewer problems than if the tournament were held in Europe.