"Thousands of fans celebrated in summery temperatures in Cologne's old town, so we are also satisfied with today's event so far. Over the course of the day, tens of thousands of soccer fans enjoyed watching yesterday's European Championship matches. With a strong presence, we only rarely had to intervene in the old town and in the stadium, despite the large number of people, some of whom were under the influence of alcohol. However, the operation is not yet over for us, we are still working to ensure a safe summer night of soccer in Cologne."
The course of the operation in brief:
In the afternoon, unknown persons set off pyrotechnic objects on the Alter Markt - investigations were initiated for violations of the Explosives Act.
Around 4 p.m., the security forces briefly closed the entrances to Alter Markt due to the very high volume of people.
From 5 p.m., the Deutzer Brücke was closed by employees of the city of Cologne in the direction of the city center.
From 6 p.m., the square areas of Alter Markt and Heumarkt emptied significantly and the predominantly English fans made their way to the stadium. The pubs, bars and restaurants in the old town remained busy until late in the evening.
The fan walk by supporters of the Slovenian national team started a little late at around 6.30 pm with around 2500 participants from Kitschburger Straße and passed off without incident.
One fan suffered an internal medical emergency during the streetcar ride to the stadium, whereupon the streetcar was stopped for an emergency doctor. All fans from this streetcar and from another streetcar in which passengers had triggered the emergency stop continued their journey on foot.
Around 7:25 pm, police intervened when three Slovenian soccer supporters tried to attack an English fan at the Heumarkt stop. The three men spent the evening in a custody cell and are facing criminal proceedings for attempted grievous bodily harm.