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Police confident over security for the Solomon Islands World Cup playoff [Fri Aug 26th, 2005]
Solomon Islands police are confident there will be no repeat of a rock-throwing incident when Australia play the Solomons in next month's World Cup playoff in Honiara.
Royal Solomon Islands Police Commissioner Shane Castles, an Australian, said detailed security planning was underway for the Australian match and there would be sufficient police to prevent major incidents.
The September 6 game at Honiara's Lawson Tama stadium will follow a September 3 game between the sides in Sydney with Australia strong favourites to advance from the two-leg Oceania World Cup qualifying series.
It comes seven months after the Under-20 World Cup qualifier between Australia and the Solomon Islands at Lawson Tama was stopped early after what is known locally as a "rock concert", when rowdy fans outside the ground threw rocks and bottles.
The incident prompted a crowd surge inside the ground and New Zealand referee Peter O'Leary stopped the game for 10 minutes with players called to the safety of the middle of the pitch until police and security officials restored order.
About 10 minutes after the restart, an Australian goal sparked more trouble with spectators throwing bottles and rocks, forcing the close of play with about 12 minutes to go.
Australia came out the winners 3-0, but the rowdy disruptions prompted Australian coach Ange Postecoglou to urge the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) to address security concerns at the ground.
"The stadium has some obvious problems in that thousands of people can gather outside the ground and they're not under control."
Spectators were not running onto the field to attack his team but he was concerned his players could be injured by flying rocks, Postecoglou said.
"I guess my concern was if they got hit by something it could cause serious injury and we were concerned at how controlled everything was."
Castles said that planning for match security on September 6 was well advanced with a memorandum of understanding signed between police and the SIFF to ensure enough police and security personnel were on hand.
"Both organisations will contribute resources to make sure it's a safe event and show the Solomon Islands can carry it off."
"We will have sufficient police numbers there on the day to deal with almost any contingency."
A hillside overlooking the ground where the trouble started on February 1 had been declared a no-go zone and police would patrol there to ensure no-one entered, Castles said.
Ticket sales have been limited to 20,000 and none will be sold on the day.
AAP
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