Germany's most populous state, North Rhine Westphalia, is set to begin a new project to better counter football hooliganism. Under the new plan, a core group of hooligan ring-leaders will be monitored individually by police investigators.

At the launch of the new plan on Wednesday in Düsseldorf, North Rhine Westphalia Interior Minister Ralf Jäger said that "these main ring-leaders are the biggest problem, because they fight and they encourage others to do the same." Jäger said that some 150 ringleaders were resident in the state, and that there were around 500 of them Germany-wide.

The new set-up will also have 16 regional offices across the state, and will be led by a central co-ordination team in Duisburg. The plan, which was drawn up with the help of police experts from across Germany, is the first step of a nationwide program to counter football violence. It is intended to also speed up the prosecution of hooligans, once they are caught, and assist in keeping repeat offenders away from football matches.

Criticism of the new plan

But not everyone is in favor of the new plan. Frank Herrmann, a member of the German Pirate Party, says that it's unclear what is meant by a "ringleader."

"The entire definition of a 'violent criminal' has been bent and stretched by politicians and the authorities when it comes to sports events," he said, adding that the new plan had been made with the idea of making it easier for the courts.

Still, Jäger is convinced of the new approach though, saying on Wednesday that "every person who uses violence, needs to know that the police and the justice authorities are closing in on him."

"If you run riot or throw punches, then you shouldn't be going to football matches," he said.

The state of NRW, as it's commonly known domestically, is home to a number of major Bundesliga clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Schalke, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Cologne.

In October of last year groups of hooligans, who were seemingly linked to various German football clubs, rioted near Cologne main train station, while protesting against Islamists.

al/rd (dpa, epd)