Vile video footage posted on Telegram reportedly shows a group of men marching down a street in Germany giving Nazi salutes.
The clip appears to show black-clad men ahead of Italy’s Euro 2024 group stage match with Albania in Dortmund. It was also posted on X from a Czech based account named Hooligans.cz. A pro-hooligan group, Hooligans.cz posts videos of violence between football fans.
Concerns around clashes between rival supporters were mounting before the first match of the tournament, which is being hosted by Germany this year.
Giving the Nazi salute was outlawed in Germany after World War 2, and performing the fascist gesture can result in a prison sentence.
The footage, which has not been independently verified and cannot be confirmed to have been filmed today, was posted on Hooligans.cz’s social media channels on Saturday (June 15).
It shows a group of some 20 men or more marching down a street, chanting and extending their right arms into the air with straightened hands.
A recent upswing in violence around football matches prompted the German authorities to dedicate 22,000 police officers to match days during the Euros.
With hundreds of thousands of fans expected to attend, Germany is mobilising its largest deployment of officers since the country’s federal police force was set up in 1951.
There are also internal border controls with 10 cities across the country hosting matches amid fears national club rivalries will spill over to the international tournament.
When France hosted Euro 2016 the tournament was marred by violence as Russian hooligans roamed Marseille attacking English fans.
England’s game against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday (June 16) has been identified as a potential flashpoint.
Police fear 500 Serbian hooligans will try and cause trouble. Serbia’s open training session descended into chaos on Wednesday when a fan tried to storm onto the pitch.
A number of Serbia supporters booed and launched fireworks at police officers, bringing the session to a halt temporarily.
The tournament has already been marred by violence with German police fatally shooting a knifeman after a person was killed and three others stabbed at a Euro 2024 party in Magdeburg after Germany’s 5-1 win over Scotland on Friday.
The man, 27, launched his attack at a private party in Wolmirstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, where people had been watching the opening match of Euro 2024.
Other upcoming matches identified by football authorities as high risk involve teams from Poland, Croatia, Romania, the Netherlands and Czech Republic.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
