Tuesday evening’s opening match in the annual "Stadin derby" football competition will pit two Helsinki clubs against each other at the Töölö football stadium.
In addition to beefing up their manpower to prevent any public disturbances, police have also introduced special traffic arrangements that will begin Tuesday afternoon and will last through the evening. The match will begin at 6.30pm and the processions have been staggered to help prevent confrontations.
"Processions will take place around the football stadium from 5-6.00pm. HIFK supporters will arrive at the venue from the side entrance and HJK fans will come in from the north from Mannerheimintie to Urheilukatu," said Chief Inspector Seppo Kujala of the Helsinki police department.
"First according to protocol, the home team will arrive and then the visiting team will arrive later. If the teams were to come at the same time, they would be forcibly entangled because the entrances are in opposite directions. We have attempted to avoid confrontation by staggering the schedules for the processions," Kujala continued.
No weekend games
In January, Finnish media reported that police had issued a directive for games to be played on weekdays in a bid to prevent violent clashes among opposing fans. On top of this preventive measure, police are also taking no chances by pulling out additional manpower, including mounted officers. However they would not reveal just how many officers will be on duty.
"If all goes well, then this will be more about traffic, but we will also have to ensure that there are no skirmishes. The majority of participants in the processions are friends and fans of football, but among them are people, who are out to cause trouble," Kujala remarked.
Police have speculated that the event will cause some traffic disruptions.
"The stadium will be full, so that means more than 10,000 spectators. However there should not be any major congestion, because the main roads will be open to traffic. It will mostly be Urheilukatu that may have bottlenecks and from the Reijolankatu direction in the early stages."
Rumbles planned in advance
Stadin derby has a mixed history when it comes to football hooliganism. However last autumn things did get rowdy.
"All sorts of things happened last autumn at the derby. They could have been better," Kujala admitted. Police say that a new phenomenon that has come to their attention is the so-called "forest fight", where rivals agree to meet for a rumble away from the city centre.
"We have been forced to keep watch late into the night to ensure that certain groups would not end up in the same areas and fight in public places. Pre-arranged clashes also seem to happen from time to time. It’s not possible to stop them completely," the police official noted.
Police to crack down on flares
Police spoke of "risk takers" who are usually the cause of public disturbances. In the past, some of them have taken to bringing flares to the matches. Police noted that last year such items caused injury to spectators’ hands and hearing and they are reminding fans that they will be strictly prohibited from the stands.
"Apart from being dangerous for the individual, we are talking about pyrotechnic devices in the stands and they can be very dangerous, for example if they start a fire. In such a case the entire audience will be in danger. So no fights, no flares," Kujala declared.
In 2015 HIFK and HJK ended the Veikkausliiga premier league game in a 1-1 draw. Last season, HJK won the first match 2-1, while the second ended in a goalless draw. HIFK posted the last derby win with a 2-1 score.