The hockey championship in Prague will employ seven hundred policemen every day

Most viewers will enjoy the matches of the upcoming Hockey World Cup to their heart’s content, but some will be unlucky. Someone will lose the start of the game, another maybe the whole game. At least initially, before fans get used to strict rules being enforced. With restrictions valid both for entering the game arenas themselves and for fan zones in their vicinity. Among other things, visitors will go through detection frames, which some people know from the airport, while others, for example, from the court.

It’s definitely worth arriving early; the hall will be open an hour before the start of the match. The arrival is waiting security inspection, in which, for example, even binoculars or larger banners will not stand up. The list of prohibited items issued by the organizer is comprehensive – and based on its content, a basic recommendation can be derived: it is ideal to take only your ticket, mobile phone and wallet with you. I prefer nothing else. Certainly not things that could serve as weapons; either because they are sharp, robust or even glassy.

Take nothing unnecessary

As part of a meeting with journalists to present the planned measures, where, in addition to the first deputy police chief Tomáš Lerch, the heads of the regional police directorates in Prague and Ostrava, the president of the organizing committee Petr Bříza and the head of the security department of the hockey championship Miloš Benda also spoke on Tuesday, May 7, it was repeatedly heard , that it is ideal to come to hockey by public transport.

A higher attendance is expected at the World Hockey Championships in the O2 arena. Traffic complications in the vicinity

It will be strengthened on the days when matches are played (while the metro can be recommended as an ideal means of transport around Prague). And in Bend’s words, don’t take anything you don’t need with you. This also applies to recording devices, with the exception of mobile phones or photographic equipment, which could be considered professional equipment.

Hockey, football, concert, demonstration

The Prague police will experience a huge onslaught, its director Petr Matějček admits. If necessary, he is ready to ask for help from colleagues from the surrounding area – not only from central Bohemia, but also from other regions from where Prague is not far – however, he believes that the Prague police can handle it on their own.

Despite the fact that the hockey championship will also “meet” the top moments of the highest football competition. For example, on Saturday 11 May: in addition to the hockey championship, the football derby between Sparta and Slavia is also being played – in fact, a “title match” – and there will also be a concert by the band Rammstein in Letňany, to which, according to the police, about 60-70 tickets are sold thousand tickets. According to Matějček’s expectations, this musical event will represent the biggest onslaught for the police: not the concert itself, but the nightly parting of seventy thousand people after it ended. A staff will be prepared to redirect police forces as needed.

In connection with the hockey championship (i.e. outside the normal service, which must remain secured), seven hundred policemen will be deployed in Prague daily.

O2 arena full of police officers: Law enforcement units are preparing for the World Cup in hockey

“I appeal to my subordinates to be ready for everything and not underestimate anything,” emphasized Matějček. He addressed the public through the media with the assurance that the police will provide everything that people expect from them and will be able to supervise security, public order and traffic under all circumstances. Although, in addition to the “mixing” of the hockey and football holidays, other events will also appear. For example, demonstrations; the plan to call the assembly has already been announced by the trade unionists.

“The deployment of police officers will be really big: we are ready to ensure the safety of Prague residents and visitors to the city,” stated the head of the Prague Police Directorate. He also assures that the police is ready to supervise not only the centers of hockey events. He expects that visitors, many of whom will come from abroad, will also want to go out into the streets to discover the beauties of Prague.

According to deputy Lerch, the police had been preparing the event for the hockey championship for a long time. He also mentioned a few exercises focused on practicing solving various situations: from the disturbance of public order to the discovery of an improvised explosive device to the “problem of an active attacker”.

Among other things, thorough pyrotechnic inspections of the halls are planned, as well as supervision of the safety of transport routes. Which means not only the airport, but also the transportation of teams between Prague and Ostrava by rail. Police officers in bulletproof vests and with long guns will also be seen around the halls.

Prevent fraudsters from getting rich

The police are also ready to deal with situations where fake tickets appear or when tickets are resold, it happens that one ticket has been printed more than once – and only the one who came first will get into the hall from the holders of all copies. The police have been warning for a long time that the only certainty is official portals. Outside of these sales channels, everything is suspect – and especially cases where the price is extremely low, but also unusually high.

Did you buy a fake ticket to the World Cup in Hockey? The police are ready to help

Police officers will record information from deceived or robbed ticket applicants directly on the spot. Because of this, the Prague police will park their staff vehicle with a team receiving announcements in front of the arena in Vysočany. “We are ready to take steps to uncover possible perpetrators and prevent the flow of money to fraudsters,” assures Lerch.

The president of the organizing committee Bříza also stated that the organizers had prepared what they could. They cooperated not only with the police, but with a whole range of different institutions in the preparations. “There are two dozen state organizations that prepared the planning in detail with us,” he stated. According to him, the organizers are ready to fulfill their obligations to the IIHF, or International Ice Hockey Federation, and to the police. “And to make sure that teams and fans feel at ease and have the best possible experience with our service,” he noted.

Ice Hockey World Championship16 teams will participate, there will be 64 matches. The Czech national team will play all its matches in Praguecoach Radim Rulík’s team will play against Finland for the first time on Friday from 20:00.

Weapons and sharp objects, food and drink, umbrellas, laptops, tripods, large luggage, animals, as well as excessive flags and drums or vuvuzelas, for example, are prohibited from being brought into the stadiums by decision of the organizers. The ban also applies to “political and advertising material, racist, defamatory, vulgar or indecent propaganda material”. “We will monitor not only the events in front of the halls, but also in the hall itself. If there was any promotion of a movement aimed at suppressing rights and freedoms, we would of course take action,” said Lerch.