Millwall v Iran match likely to be called off amid fears of racist attacks

Guardian - A long arranged soccer match between the Iranian national team and Millwall in south-east London is almost certain to be cancelled today because the organisers fear the game will be targeted by far right extremists.

Three days after the Guardian revealed fears of far right extremists and football hooligans acting jointly to attack Muslims and "avenge" the London bus and tube bombs, administrators at Millwall are preparing to cancel the fixture amid fears that Iranian fans may be attacked going to and from the ground.

The club was expecting up to 10,000 Iranian fans to watch the game. Iran is on a sporting high, having qualified for next year's World Cup.
It is expected that other fixtures, against Queens Park Rangers in west London on Saturday and Portsmouth on August 6, will go ahead. But the stakes were much higher for Millwall than for the other clubs.

Last year Millwall became the first club to be charged by the Football Association over racist behaviour by supporters. The governing body took the unprecedented action after it was claimed that a Liverpool player was subjected to monkey noises. A £25,000 fine was imposed, along with a suspended order that Millwall's ground be closed to all spectators for one senior home match if there was a repetition.

Many inside the club, and many fans, feared the club would be inviting further trouble by playing the match.

"The club's concern is not about safety and security inside the stadium but rather that the occasion may be used as a vehicle for those holding extremist views to cause problems," a club source said.

He added that the club had worked hard to shake off a notorious reputation and promoted initiatives such as Kick Racism out of Football.

Mark Devlin, the QPR chief executive, said the club had taken advice but felt the game could be played without risk inside or outside the ground. "It will give communities the chance to come together and display a positive side rather than a negative one. We have monitored our internet chatroom and there doesn't seem to be a clamour among our fans for the game to be called off."

Tickets were also still on sale last night for the Porstmouth game.

A police source said they would have been able to cope with the Millwall fixture but added: "The timing couldn't really have been worse. We would not have said no but it would have been very difficult."

Scotland Yard has been monitoring internet chatrooms which show hooligans from a number of clubs making common cause. Postings advocate attacks on targets such as mosques.