Japan offers World Cup hooligan cover

Nisshin came up with the riot coverage after stores in Yokohama, site of the final, showed concern

By CNN's Alex Frew McMillan

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A Japanese insurer is offering hooligan coverage for the 2002 World Cup.

The Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance Co. developed a hooligan-damage policy for store owners in early June. It's selling the group coverage to shopping malls.

Tokyo-based Nisshin came up with the idea after officials from the city of Yokohama asked it to develop something to cover damage by wayward fans.

"We are very much looking forward to the World Cup, not hooligans," a Nisshin spokesman explained.

Participants still uncertain

Yokohama will host the final of the World Cup, the world's top soccer tournament, on June 30. It will also have one of at least three matches the Japanese national team will play.

The 2002 World Cup will be co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, with games at 10 cities in each country. South Korea hosts the opening matches on May 31.

Organizers don't yet know where other nations will play, or even which teams -- other than the hosts and defending champion France -- will appear. Qualifying is still going on.

But the poor reputation of European soccer-playing nations has preceded them. Japan, which has no history of crowd trouble at soccer games, is readying for an onslaught.

"Ordinary people [in Japan] have never seen hooligans," said Hisao Shuto, a spokesman for the Japanese Word Cup Organization Committee, or JAWOC.

JAWOC is trying to dispel any misperception that all soccer fans are hooligans, he said.

Up to $80,000 per store

Organizers also hope the distance between Asia and Europe -- where nations such as England, Germany and the Netherlands have a history of crowd violence -- may dissuade troublemakers.

But they are also preparing for any trouble. Japan's National Police Agency installed Takahisa Ishida as head of security in 1997.

Ishida took in the 1998 World Cup in France and Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium. Both were disrupted by violence, with more than 900 fans arrested in Euro 2000.

With that in mind, retailers in Yokohama pressed city officials to come up with a plan to protect them.

Nisshin came up with a group policy to cover store owners. They're encouraged to apply for the coverage as a shop-owner association.

For instance, 300 store owners would pay $12,100 (1.5 million yen) for a group policy, or 5,000 yen per store. It would cover up to $80,000 (10 million yen) per store in damage caused by rioting fans, with a small deductible.

The insurance starts a month before the first game and ends a week after the last game in each city.

Rolling out to all 10 cities

Nisshin hasn't sold any contracts yet, but has just started promoting the insurance.

It hopes to introduce the coverage to all the Japanese cities where games will be played.

Japan is selling 1.3 million tickets for the World Cup, 650,000 of them available to overseas fans.

Shuto at JAWOC said the organization is mulling how best to counter violence. It will ban objects like large flags, umbrellas and plastic bottles that could be used as weapons, he said.

It is also considering a ban on alcohol at games.

South Korean organizers said no company has offered similar coverage in Korea. Both Japan and Korea have an insurance company as an "official supplier," though Nisshin is not one of them.