ATLANTA, July 15 (Reuters) – Police in Atlanta were preparing on Wednesday for the World Cup semi-final clash between Argentina and England, a match seen as potentially high risk for trouble given the history of animosity between the two countries.
The Atlanta Police Department has said it will have enhanced security in place, proactive measures that were the result of continual security assessment. The stadium in downtown Atlanta normally hosts NFL and Major League Soccer.
There have been isolated reports of minor disorder in the run-up to the match but the atmosphere was peaceful on Wednesday morning, with fans gathering in cafes and bars or playing cards as they waited outside the stadium.
In Mexico earlier in the tournament, there was a deadly crush as fans celebrated, but this World Cup has generally been free of the violent disorder that blighted some matches in the 1980s and 1990s.
Still, authorities are taking no chances. For the first time at this tournament, rival fans will be channelled through separate entrances at the stadium.
The rivalry between Argentina and England goes back decades and stems both from controversies at soccer matches and historical tensions. It intensified in the wake of the 1982 military conflict between the two countries over the Falkland Islands/Malvinas and South Georgia in the South Atlantic, which resulted in 907 deaths.
Argentina’s security minister said Argentina fans would not be able to take any flags into the stadium claiming sovereignty over the islands.
FIFA rules ban items in stadiums making political expressions, although earlier in the tournament in Los Angeles Iranian Americans carrying flags protesting against the Tehran government entered the stadium and the game proceeded without issue.
(Reporting by Reuters in Atlanta; Writing by Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by Alison Williams)
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