Turkey’s Fenerbahce football club said that it will ask the Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, to react following incidents at the Europa Conference League game on Thursday with Slovenia’s Maribor team.
The match was first delayed by 30 minutes after clashes between Fenerbahce and Maribor fans erupted, after a Maribor fan stole a banner from Fenerbahce end. Following the clashes, police forced Fenerbahce fans to leave the stadium and used tear gas to disperse them.
“Supporters of the opposing team entered among our fans and attacked the banner in the stands and removed the banner from the stands,” Fenerbahce said on Twitter.
Fenerbahce also said the Slovenian police used disproportionate force.
“The intervention of police teams in the stadium over the Slovenian fans who caused this incident was not enough … our fans were unfairly expelled from the stadium. The information reaching our club is that police showed an approach that crossed the line, while our fans were expelled from the stadium,” Fenerbahce said.
The eventful game ended with Fenerbahce’s victory by 3-0.
Clashes between football fans have made headlines in the Balkans over the past weeks after the murder of 29-year-old Michalis Katsouris two weeks ago in a clash between fans of AEK Athens and Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb in Athens last week, ahead of a Champions League qualifications match.
The return match between AEK and Dinamo was played in Zagreb on Tuesday. The first match was postponed after the incident in Athens and has not been rescheduled yet. The game took place in Zagreb under heavy police presence and passed without incidents.
Source : Balkan Insight
