World Cup teams to get S.African police guard: official

Football teams at the World Cup next month will be guarded by specialised police units with additional security for high risk teams and matches, South Africa’s police chief said on Thursday.

“The teams per se are all guarded by the South African police members,” said police commissioner Bheki Cele. “The degree of guarding will be different relative to the risk of that particular team.”

South Africa, which has an average 50 killings a day, has dedicated 44,000 police officers to the World Cup which starts on June 11.

“All teams will be under specialised units. But some teams, especially on some days on matches, you’ll find (a) special task force not only of the South African police, but also of the South African National Defence Force,” Cele said.

Eight of the 32 teams had been profiled as high risk, he said, citing as an example of a high risk match the scheduled June 12 clash between England and the United States in Rustenburg.

“We regard it as a high risk match, so we’ll prepare as such,” he said, without elaborating on the nature of the threat.

Teams will be under police watch from when they landed in South Africa until they left. A minimum unit of four officers will be provided to each team, with an additional forces for higher risk profiles.

“We are taking over hotels, we have taken over bases, we will be there where they practice, we’ll be there on their transit.”

Foreign police forces will send members as advisors, with no arrest powers, said Cele.

Police chiefs from the 31 visiting nations gave the nod to South Africa’s security plan in March.

State security minister Siyabonga Cwele told journalists on Wednesday that South Africa had received no terror threat to the tournament.