DILI, 24 june 2021 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste’s traffic police (PNTL) seized a total of 149 motorbikes for breaching traffic rules during the Portugal-France match of the 2021 Euro Cup.
The owners of the seized motorbikes are the football fans of both Portugal and France.
Dili Municipal Police Commander, Henrique da Costa informed that the motorbikes were seized for breaching traffic rules – brutal sound, doing burnouts, no ownership documents, no helmets, no registration number etc.
“Traffic police on wednesday launched a special operation to curb increasing parades of motorbikes in capital Dili. Lots of football fans went out with their bikes and for those who breach the traffic rules, such as having no ownership documents, riding without helmets, doing motorbike burnouts, and brutal sound, then their motorbikes were seized,” Costa told reporters, at Dili Municipal Police Station, today.
Costa said since yesterday, with the launching of the police operation, many parades of the motorbikes had been disbanded, saying as a result, there was no conflict between fans.
“Some large gatherings took place in a number of spots in Dili, this morning. But, due to PNTL’s intensive operation, these groups were successfully dismantled,” said Costa.
Costa called on the football fans to watch the Euro Cup matches in their neighborhood rather than going outside. “They need to obey the traffic regulations, such as wearing helmets, having registration number, driving license, and ownership documents when going out to other places.”
“I also want to call on the football fans to respect other nations’ national symbols, especially the flags. We want other people to respect our flag, and we have to do the same thing to not disrespect another country’s flag, by dragging it on the ground,” Costa added.
As part of special measures, traffic police deputized teams in different locations within Dili to control the movement of the parades of the motorbikes and football fans during the Euro Cup matches.
Santos said in the past matches of the Euro Cup, some houses were destroyed due to the conflict between football fans.
He added PNTL had identified three suspects linked to the previous conflict between football fans following the Germany-Portugal match on june 20, saying a further investigation would be carried out to identify more suspects.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Rafy Belo
