More Police Troops on Duty in France

Police braced for another night of violence Monday as Tunisian and English soccer fans clashed in the streets around the Stade de Velodrome, at a beach where fans had gathered to watch the game on a giant screen and near the city center, leaving minor injuries, broken beer bottles and squashed cans in their wake.

About 2,000 police officers, including heavily armed riot troops, were on duty to deal with the threat of problems caused by rogue English fans, known as hooligans for their destructiveness. Some of those fans were detained before the game by police after they began hurling bottles at Tunisian fans outside the stadium.

In the beach melee, about 300 English fans jumped police barricades to get at Tunisian fans and threw stones and bottles at them.

In the streets around the stadium, about 10 people were slightly injured and a dozen people were arrested after England defeated Tunisia, 2-0, Monday in both teams’ World Cup opener.

On Sunday night, drunken English fans and Tunisian fans had clashed in downtown Marseille. Thirty-seven people were seriously hurt, including one who suffered a slashed throat. The arrests numbered about 50. Police used tear gas and dogs to separate the offenders and stop English fans from throwing bottles at cars driven by Tunisian fans.

France’s Interior Ministry blamed Sunday’s violence on 200 English hooligans who taunted Tunisia supporters at Marseille’s Old Port area. The ministry also said gangs from the north Marseille suburbs joined the clashes and escalated the violence.

To avoid a repeat on Monday, police had tightened security by searching fans’ cars and bags for potential weapons. Regional governmental officials instituted a partial ban on alcohol, prohibiting carryout sales after the game’s conclusion and ordering bars closed by 11 p.m. However, those measures failed to suppress the eruption of trouble.

Keith Cooper, director of communications for FIFA--soccer’s international governing body--called those involved in the violence “a few dozen mindless perverts.”

Two cultural events planned Monday to enhance the World Cup experience, a trial bike demonstration and a parade on the Prado beaches, were canceled for security reasons.

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Chilean striker Marcelo Salas, who scored both goals in his team’s 2-2 tie with Chile, strained leg muscles in training and is doubtful for Chile’s game against Austria Wednesday at Saint-Etienne.

“I need to rest and we will see how the injury feels,” he said. “I don’t know much about the Austrian team, but we will be studying them on video. . . . I am relaxed about this match.”

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Funeral services for Fernand Sastre, the French World Cup Organizing Committee co-president who died Saturday, are scheduled for Wednesday at Notre-Dame de Rosaire in Saint-Maur des Fossees, near Paris.