Security fear over World Cup tie (31 May 1999)

31 May 1999

Security fear over World Cup tie

Mihir Bose, David Millward and Amit Roy

England's humiliating defeat by India yesterday, which knocked them out of the cricket World Cup, set up a potentially volatile clash between the Indians and Pakistan. The teams will meet next week with their countries on the verge of war over Kashmir.

Police and tournament promoters will discuss urgently security measures for the match at Old Trafford a week tomorrow. A ban on alcohol at the ground is possible. But Michael Browning, the tournament organiser, said last night: "There is no question of the match not going ahead. The tournament will run its course."

The biggest problem will be how to keep the fans apart. Cricket, unlike football, does not have a history of segregating supporters. Although most tickets have been sold, it is believed that England's elimination from the tournament could lead to many appearing on the black market, making any attempt at crowd control even more difficult.

The tournament has been marred by a series of pitch invasions, leading to criticism of security. There are about a million people of Indian origin in Britain and about half a million of Pakistani origin. Already there have been signs that many of the English-born fans supporting teams from the sub-continent are bringing soccer-style rivalry to the matches.

Yesterday, as England stumbled towards defeat by 63 runs at Edgbaston, Indian fans started singing: "Stand up if you hate Pakistan." There were also cries in Hindi, accusing the Pakistanis of being cheats.

Greater Manchester police said: "We will be taking advice from all the relevant bodies and put into place whatever increased measures are felt necessary. It remains a cricket match and we will want it to stay that way."

The Indian and Pakistani high commissions in London have worked hard to defuse tension between their communities in Britain. Today the Indian high commissioner, Lalit Mansingh, is to hold a party for members of the Indian team. The Pakistan high commissioner, Riaz Samee, is expected to be there.

Before the start of the tournament, Mr Mansingh attended a party at the Pakistan high commission where he chatted with the leading Pakistani players. Asian businessmen were also seeking to defuse talk of violence, predicting an exciting game and emphasising that any trouble would be the work of a few hotheads.

England's defeat will do nothing for sales of the team's song, All Over the World, composed by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, which is due for release.

But Terry Blake, the tournament's marketing director, said that the World Cup finances were secure. "It is not the end of the world," he said. "This World Cup will be the most profitable in the history of cricket and will be watched by more people around the globe than any other."

The money from sponsorship and television has been banked. While some of the tickets for the next Super Six stage have not been sold, many of them involve centres where India and Pakistan are due to play and the organisers are sure that it will not be difficult to sell them.

BSkyB and the BBC remain optimistic that the tournament will continue to appeal to viewers despite England's elimination. So far, viewing figures have averaged 2.5 million per match on the BBC, peaking at three million. BSkyB audiences have ranged between one and two million.

England's failure to qualify for the second part of the tournament has underlined the country's decline as a cricketing power, which seemed to have been arrested by last summer's Test series triumph over South Africa.

But the England captain, Alec Stewart, urged fans to keep a sense of proportion. He said: "If England lose, it is a crisis and everything has to be looked at. If South Africa had won, we would have progressed and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)