Security issues in Qatar lead to fears of crowd incident as World Cup progresses

The World Cup is facing the possibility of a serious crowd incident following a number of chaotic scenes involving supporters and unprepared Qatari security forces.

Flashpoints throughout the tournament have raised questions over safety and the ability of police and security to handle big crowds — and there are more tests to come as the World Cup reaches the latter stages.

One of the biggest issues is ticketless fans turning up at stadiums. There is the possibility of an Argentina v Brazil semi-final next week, where tickets will be highly sought-after. Fan separation is another problem.

Currently, all supporters enter through the same gates but there is an argument that should change if the South American rivals meet.

Soft checks — where fans’ tickets are checked on their approach to the ground, as well as at the entrance — will be carried out before each quarter-final, including England’s game with France, which is sold out. But the hosts appear reluctant to upgrade security or separate fan entrances despite a number of incidents.

A spokesperson for Qatar said: ‘We are delighted with how fans have behaved so far during the tournament, with international media recognising these as some of the most respectful and well-controlled crowds ever seen at a World Cup.’

But Sportsmail has witnessed several incidents involving crowds at this tournament already and, with even bigger matches on the horizon, it is fair to ask if the security forces are ready. The evidence suggests possibly not.

The first crowd issue occurred at the opening of the FIFA Fan Festival for Qatar’s first match with Ecuador. Tens of thousands had gathered at the event in Al Bidda Park but there was chaos as supporters were pushed back by riot police and feared being crushed.

There were reports of a similar incident at a pre-World Cup concert on the Corniche seafront, with fans trying to push their way inside only to be pushed back by police. At matches, many ticketless fans have been turning up outside stadiums in the hope of getting in.

This is not uncommon. Football touts sell tickets outside games in Europe and across the world. But the problem in Qatar is the sheer number of fans doing so.

There were issues at Ghana’s group games, particularly for their final match against Uruguay. Ghana fans had allegedly been expecting tickets to be given out from a government official but when this did not happen, there was a stampede towards the entrance.

Some managed to jump over the barriers but the situation was dangerous. One distressed young girl and her father were let inside to escape being crushed.

There had been reports of a similar issue at Morocco’s final group game with Canada so security deployed extra manpower by the entrances to the stadium for their knockout game with Spain. But this inflamed the problem.

Twenty minutes before kick-off, the two main entrances were blocked by police but another entrance further round the corner stayed open.

This was not made clear and fans who had turned up late but had valid tickets were stopped from entering. Fights broke out and some people found themselves trapped against a chained fence.

To help Qatar deal with security at the World Cup, Turkey, its closest regional ally, sent 3,000 riot police, 100 special operations police, 50 bomb specialists and 80 sniffer and riot dogs. The riot police and dogs were present at Morocco v Spain and were also seen at Ghana’s group matches.

But the incidents we have seen suggest the security operation could be pushed to the limit as the tournament reaches its climax.

THE FA are set to appoint former policeman Steve Lewis as the new head of security for the England team.