Sports season sees rise in hooligan figures

Police have blacklisted another 67 sport hooligans since the start of the football and ice hockey season in July.

As of October 2011 there were 1,198 people in the Federal Police Office’s so-called “Hoogan” database. They include fans who have been banned from stadiums or from travelling to matches abroad and those having to report to police stations during events.

Hooligan figures are released twice a year by the police. Football troublemakers make up the majority (70 per cent), compared with ice hockey fans (30 per cent). Just over half are aged between 19 and 24 and a quarter are aged between 25 and 29. Nine are women.

The most common offences are rioting and use of explosives, together accounting for 539 cases. Others include property damage as well as violence and threatening behaviour against the authorities.

So far, 63 people have been removed from the database since July.

Sports violence is not uncommon in Switzerland. Earlier this month a football game in Zurich was stopped after unrest broke out in the terraces. It was the first time in the history of professional Swiss football that a match had been halted.