When it comes to questions whether Portugal's security forces will be ready for the 2004 European Championship, the answer depends on who you speak to -- the authorities or cops on the beat.
The government, bracing for possible violent clashes between the expected 1.2 million fans at the biggest sports event ever held in Portugal, insists the preparations are on track.
Representatives of the security forces aren't so sure.
Jose Luis Arnaut, the government minister overseeing the three-week event, won't go into detail about security arrangements but says he's not worried.
"We're sure everything will go smoothly. All necessary precautions will be taken," Arnaut said at a recent meeting with foreign reporters.
But in telephone interviews, police representatives said they were understaffed and under-equipped.
They also have long-standing contract grievances with the government which may translate into labor disruptions around the championships.
Soccer-related violence is rare in Portugal.
Europe's entrenched problem of soccer hooliganism stained the last championships in 2000, jointly held in Belgium and the Netherlands, where hundreds were arrested after clashing in city streets and trashing bars and shops. Violence marred the World Cup in Spain in 1982, in Italy in 1990 and in France in 1998.
The trouble may well seep into Portugal.
Yet less than five months before Portugal and Greece kick off in the opening game, police are voicing concern about what they claim is a shortage of manpower and delays in deploying promised modern equipment, worth US$20 million and including water cannon and new riot gear, to counter hooliganism.
"We haven't enough men for patrols now, never mind at Euro 2004," said Antonio Ramos, president of the Police Union and a beat officer. "We haven't been properly equipped for years."
Ramos lists a worrying number of broken-down patrol cars, outdated computers and defective radios among the shortcomings.
"We often have to use our own cellphones to call the station when we're out on duty," he said.
New riot gear hasn't arrived yet, though the government says it will be in place by March.
Crucially, an integrated communications system which for the first time will allow Portugal's emergency services -- police, the fire service and the ambulance service -- to talk to each other directly over the same frequency will not be ready in time for Euro 2004.
The government recently pledged to hire another 1,200 officers to beef up the police force.
But that won't be much help -- the police training course lasts one year.
"We're pretty gloomy," Ramos said.
Portugal is patrolled by two police forces -- an urban force known by its acronym PSP, and, outside major towns and cities, the Guarda Nacional Republicana, or GNR, a semi-military force like Italy's carabinieri.
This force will be in charge of shadowing foreign fans traveling to games, providing security at the 16 participating teams' training camps, and will be on duty at three rural stadiums where some games are to be held.
Jose Manageiro, a policeman for the past 20 years who also heads the GNR Association, a representative body, says the police wanted to begin training and using new riot equipment from the start of the Portuguese league soccer season last September.
But halfway through the season, that training is still very patchy, he said.
RSS