Prague derby match marred by vandalism and riots

Martin Jůzek
1. 4. 2008 15:00
26 fans arrested and hundreds of thousands in damages
Fans protect themselves from police petards used to disperse them
Fans protect themselves from police petards used to disperse them | Foto: Ondřej Besperát

Prague - The football derby match between SK Slavia and AC Sparta that took place in Prague's Strahov stadium on Monday was marked by dangerous incidents provoked by fans of both teams.

The game was emotionally tense - not only on the pitch, but, above all, in the stands.

One red card, two goals and a 1:1 draw - that's what the latest encounter between Prague's old rivals brought. In addition, there was a lot of smoke, fights and ripped off seats.

"In total, 26 fans have been detained as a result of today's match. Fourteen of them were taken after the incidents that took place in the second half, and the remaining twelve even before the match began," informed Prague police's spokeswoman Iva Knolová.

The derby was marked as a high-risk event in advance.

Read more: Fears of riots ahead of Prague football derby

A fireman puts out a flare tossed by fans
A fireman puts out a flare tossed by fans | Foto: Tomáš Adamec

Football recedes behind ripped off seats and petards

During the second half, the police force and security guards repeatedly intervened in stadium sectors where both home and guest ultras were seated.

"The intervention was totally adequate to the given situation. Officers had to enter the sectors in order to detain offenders. In addition, we have it all documented and it is most likely that other hooligans will be arrested in the coming days," explained Knolová.

Beside some ripped off seats that have been tossed on the pitch by the visiting Sparta fans in the first half, all the major incidents took place after Slavia scored the first goal in the 58th minute of the match. Disturbances were initiated this time from the home supporters' sectors, but soon spilled over to the visitors' part of the stadium.

The referee was forced to stop the match as the flares, ripped off seats and petards used by police in order to disperse crowds of radical fans temporarily turned the stadium into a war zone.

A fan entered the pitch and ran across it, waving one of the corner flags. Eventually, policemen and security stewards caught him.

Trouble brewing before the match

Sparta fans marching to the Strahov stadium
Sparta fans marching to the Strahov stadium | Foto: Tomáš Adamec, Aktuálně.cz

After a few minutes, play was resumed though. The situation had visibly calmed down after the police interference and the match did not have to be concluded prematurely.

There were also problems before the match, as the guest fans clashed with the police. "Fans of Sparta used pyrotechnics against the police, above all Molotov cocktails have been thrown at the police officers. The reason was that many tried entering the stadium without tickets," explained Knolová.

Even earlier, a group of Sparta fans vandalized a tram in Podolí. 

Most of the Sparta supporters marched to the Strahov stadium together from Letná, a Prague district where the team's home stadium is located. The march was controlled by the police on the ground and a helicopter flying above.

The damage: Hundreds of thousands CZK

"We haven't yet assesed the damages in precise numbers. Both sectors - that of Sparta fans and that of Slavia supporters - were affected. But there is no doubt that we are talking about hundreds of thousands of crowns in damages," told Slavia spokesman Ondřej Zlámal to Aktuálně.cz.

However, Zlámal avoided answering the question whether he sees the police intervention adequate by sayin that these matters will be discussed in the near future.

 

Právě se děje

Další zprávy