Match of the 23rd round of the first football league: FC Baník Ostrava – AC Sparta Prague, March 11, 2023, Ostrava. A cauldron of home fans.
Ostrava – Fans of both clubs disrupted the football match between Baník Ostrava and Sparta Prague in the afternoon in Ostrava, which the home team lost 0:3. One ran onto the field, others set off unauthorized pyrotechnics. Others refused to take off their hoods or scarves. The police arrested seven people. All incidents are handled by the police as misdemeanors. Moravian-Silesian police spokeswoman Pavla Jiroušková told ČTK.
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Several hundred Sparta fans arrived in Ostrava. The main group arrived by train around 14:10 at Ostrava-Svinov station. The connection was almost two hours late. “In connection with the arrival of the fans, the police arrested six people who committed an offense against public order and did not obey the calls of the police,” said Jiroušková.
She added that the fans' faces were covered with hoods or scarves. They did not respond to the call of the police and refused to remove their masks. Prepared buses then transported the group from the station to the stadium without any problems. Other complications appeared during the match itself.
“During the match, there were several cases of foul play,” said Jiroušková. She added that it was, for example, the unauthorized use of pyrotechnics or running into the stadium area. According to her, the pyrotechnics were set off by fans of both clubs. The police officers have available camera footage, which they are evaluating. According to them, they will then determine the culprits. During the match, one of the fans, it is not yet clear which club, ran onto the pitch. He was seized by the organizers and handed over to the police.
Today's match between Baník and Sparta was assessed by the police as risky, just like the previous ones. That's why the policemen prepared for the match. The Regional Directorate of Police has prepared a measure in which an adequate number of police officers, as well as constables, have been deployed.
The Ostrava club's matches with Prague's Sparta have long been perceived as risky. Large-scale violence broke out, for example, at the end of March 2014. Rowing of football hooligans peaked at halftime of the match. A hundred rioters from Ostrava, among whom there were apparently Poles, tried to get into the guests' sector. They threw various objects, such as pyrotechnics and stones, at the intervening policemen, attacked them with punches, kicks or even jumped on their backs. At the stadium, brawlers belonging to the Ostrava club tore out dozens of seats and destroyed the fence.
The police then charged 18 people. The majority heard accusations of violence against an official, as they attacked the intervening police officers. 11 police officers were injured in the attack, mostly lightly. Among those detained were supporters of both teams, many of them drunk. The second half started about twenty minutes later due to the unrest in the stadium.
