Fri, Jun 21, 2002 page23

• Ticket scalpers outnumber English hooligans in Tokyo

  • By Jules Quartly / STAFF REPORTER
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  Beers in hand and tattoos on their arms, a railway guard approached with caution the two English soccer fans traveling yesterday by train to Tokyo.

  Immaculately turned out in a white suit, he nervously asked the pair for their tickets.

  "`Ere you go, mate," they said, and you could see a look of relief flooding over the ticket collector's face as he realized he was not going to be raped or pillaged.

  It has been a standard reaction from the Japanese ahead of the crunch match between England and Brazil today, Londoners Mark and Andy said.

  Mark has a Celtic-band tattoo snaking round one forearm, short, bristly hair and a T-shirt which reads: "Don't cry for me Argentina" -- a reference to the 1-0 England victory against its rival in the first phase of the tournament. On the back is the legend: "1-0".

  Andy is more your "firm" type of English fan. Dressed in a suit, sharp haircut and good shoes, he has been to every World Cup since the US in 1994.

  He said he had "a little bovver" in France, but "nothing serious" and described himself as a "normal" fan.

  "All the hooligans are back home in pubs watching the games on TV," Mark, who works at Gatwick Airport in London, said.

  "It's not the same as other World Cups from what I hear. It's the most middle-aged, middle income, middle-class, graduate, middle-of-the-road World Cup ever."

  He said many England supporters had stayed at home because the World Cup was in Asia. "It's not like just poppin' over the Channel, is it, mate?"

  The cost of travel (in Japan in particular) and a police clampdown in Asia and Europe to prevent fans with a record of trouble-making from traveling to the World Cup had reduced the potential for violence, Mark said.

  Sitting with us on the train to Tokyo from the airport was pharmaceutical company representative Kouji Hitomi, who had just returned from a business trip in Germany.

  Sharing a beer, he said the media was partly responsible for the fear many Japanese had toward European and in particular English soccer fans. "Of course," he said, "I know that most Englishmen are gentlemen."

  The only fighting on the train was from a young girl with golden locks who kept hitting her "mam" and shouting "you're the baby, you're the baby." Her dad, beer in hand and dressed in the green of Ireland said, "I'm tellin' yer now; Trace, if yer don' stop yer'll be outta the window."

  According to the British Embassy, six Britons have been locked up so far in Japan during the World Cup: three on suspicion of passing on counterfeit dollars, one for alleged shoplifting and another for trying to get into a match with a fake BBC pass.

  There is also an Englishman who has been in solitary confinement for the past two weeks for scalping, or selling his friend's ticket for twice its value outside Niigata Stadium.

  So, it was a surprise at Tokyo Train Station when a man in a safari suit with a pass which read "Railroad Repairs Operative" approached and whispered in a US accent, "How's it goin'? You got tickets? You want tickets?"

  I kind of mumbled and he continued, "All the English and Brazilians are coming in for the big one, so it's shittin' the real nitty gritty now. It's big business, man, big ass, big match."

  Fred offered me his card which said, "WORLD CUP TICKETS, buy-sell, English-Japanese Speaking" and gave a number to call.

  He said tickets for the game today were fetching US$750 to US$1,000 depending on the category of seating.

  I asked him whether he had any trouble.

  "Nah, man, all's cool, give me a call," he said and disappeared like a ghost back into the crowd.
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