Czech minister says new soccer security system effective.

(From Czech News Agency)

Prague, March 1 (CTK) - The new Czech system of ensuring security at soccer stadiums is well-shaped and the state has made clear its intention to punish breaching of the peace by undisciplined fans, Interior Minister Ivan Langer said in a television debate today. He called it a breakthrough that the Brno court this week qualified fans' rushing to the local stadium pitch as breach of the peace, a crime. "It is no longer a mere offence. Anyone who would enter the pitch without authorisation faces a serious risk of ending up behind bars," Langer said. He said he expects this to deter soccer hooligans, though not immediately. On Friday, a court in Brno sentenced Ales Badinka, a fan of the soccer team Banik Ostrava, to four months in prison for rioting at a Brno vs Ostrava League match last Sunday. Before the match started, he rushed to the pitch, drunken, and refused to return among the audience. The judge said he set the sentence in view of Badinka's past as a repeat offender. Apart from Badinka, the police detained another four people in the pitch at the Brno stadium on ...