A football match on Saturday between Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague was called off following a pitch invasion by Slavia fans just a few minutes before the end. Slavia were leading over Sparta by 3-2, and if they had won the match would have become league champions with three rounds to spare before the end of the season. However, in the 7th minute of overtime, Slavia’s fans ran onto the pitch and attacked two Sparta players.
Television footage showed one fan pouring beer on Sparta goalkeeper Jakub Surovcik, while another shoved forward Matyas Vojta.
As a result, the match was suspended, both teams immediately left the pitch, and Sparta players then left the arena in their bus.
Slavia board chairman Jaroslav Tvrdik then announced to the spectators that the match had ended, acknowledging that Slavia may lose the match by forfeit. In such a case, Sparta would still have a chance of catching its local rival in the league, as the difference between the two would be reduced to five points.
Tvrdik later said this was the worst situation he had experienced in the club.
“Objectively speaking, the situation was complicated by the fact that the fans expected to celebrate the title and wanted to do so by storming the stadium,” he said. “Unfortunately, our security team was unable to handle the crowd. I don’t know if it was possible to handle it.”
Yesterday, the league association’s disciplinary commission started dealing with the incident and the unfinished match. The commission said Slavia may lose the match by forfeit, a fine of up to CZK 10 million could be issued, or its arena may be closed. The verdict will be issued on Tuesday.
Yesterday, in response to Saturday’s events, Tvrdik announced that Slavia would close the northern part of its stadium, which holds the loudest group of its fans, strictly punish the fans who ran onto the pitch during the Saturday match, and remove two players from the team for bad conduct.
The team said that the fans who ran onto the pitch and attacked the players would be permanently banned from the stadium, and should cover the damage they incurred, including the possible fine.
Defender David Doudera and striker Tomas Chory, the league’s top scorer this season, have been removed from the team and may transfer to another club in summer. Both players received red cards during Saturday’s match. For Chory, this was the third red card of the season, always for aggressive behaviour towards players of the other team.
In a statement yesterday, Sparta Prague said it saw the incidents on Saturday as the culmination of an atmosphere of hatred toward its club that has been building over a long period.
Minister for Sport Boris Stastny (Motorists) wrote on social media yesterday that he would talk with Czech Football Association chair David Trunda about security in football arenas and means of improvement.
