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By Alexandra Hudson
VIENNA, June 6 (Reuters) - Austria's director general of public security on Friday refused to identify any nation's fans as a particular security risk during Euro 2008 but said police were prepared should the mood turn sour.
Austria hosts its first matches of the tournament on Sunday, when Austria play Croatia in Vienna and Germany meet Poland in Klagenfurt, and tens of thousands of fans are expected to travel to the country.
Erik Buxbaum dismissed suggestions that the Germany/Poland game could prove a particular trouble hot-spot, after a provocative war of words this week between German and Polish newspapers.
"We have been informed of it by German and Polish authorities," Buxbaum said during a press conference.
"But we expect people will have let off steam by Sunday and that sport will be the focal point. We are prepared for the possibility of a tense atmosphere but have no evidence to suggest that we should expect one."
CLAMP DOWN
Buxbaum added foreign police officers had provided the Austrians with information about known hooligans or trouble makers and some would be working as "spotters" mingling with fans in plain clothes to clamp down on trouble early.
A total of 1,100 foreign police will work in Austria during the three-week tournament, most of them from Germany.
"It would be an insult to peaceful fans to single out a particular country as a problem," Buxbaum said.
"The Germans will no doubt prevent violent fans from travelling to Austria," he said, adding each country was monitoring its own soccer hooligans within its borders.
Up to five million fans are expected to attend the finals co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, leading to one of the biggest security operations faced by the two Alpine states.
Austria has officially suspended the so-called Schengen border regulations, which allow European Union citizens to pass freely from one member country to the next, so that police can control entry to the country.
