The 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup will kick off in about six months. As the two countries busy themselves with the final preparations, the people who are becoming most tense are those in charge of security. When one thinks of security at soccer matches, the notorious hooligans in European countries may spring to mind. If their team wins, they go on a drunken spree. If they lose, they go on a rampage, assaulting people and destroying property. At the 1998 World Cup in France, a total of 165 arrests were made.
These hooligans must be restrained. Initially, this was the priority in security plans for next summer's World Cup. The police have requested cooperation from European countries and asked them to dispatch special spotters to look out for known troublemakers. The government has been on the move, too, enacting a revision of the Immigration-Control and Refugee-Recognition Law to enable Japan to refuse entry to any foreigner who has been forcefully deported or punished for causing trouble at an international sporting event, either domestically or overseas. So border controls are taking shape.
Unfortunately, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the heart of the United States changed the picture drastically. As military operations in Afghanistan continue, World Cup security has switched its emphasis from hooligan-spotting to guarding against terrorists.