German, Polish hooligans brawl at border

Around 100 German and Polish hooligans staged a mass brawl in a wood on the German side of the border on Sunday afternoon, police said yesterday.

A 100-strong German police team stopped and searched 45 Germans who had travelled in 15 cars and a busload of 53 Poles after receiving information about the planned fight near the village of Briesen, 60kms east of Berlin.

One of the Germans stopped on Sunday had been convicted for his part in the rioting at the 1998 World Cup in France in which a French policeman was beaten unconscious and remained in a coma for six months, a Berlin police official said.

The brawl took place just over six months before the start of the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany and for which Poland have qualified.

The Germans involved were not exclusively football hooligans, but also nightclub bouncers and Hell's Angels, the police said.

Mostly from eastern states, but also from Lower Saxony in the west, they could face prosecution for assault and disturbing the peace.