England's win over Serbia marred by violence

Fans gather before the match between England and Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, June 16 - Photo: REUTERS

About 200 German police rushed to break up a fight between fans before the match between England and Serbia at Euro 2024.

According to the Guardian , the incident took place at a restaurant in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen five hours before the match. This left a police officer and several fans bloodied. It is not clear who incited the incident.

Images on social media showed fans throwing chairs at each other outside a restaurant displaying a Serbian flag. A group of fans quickly retreated as riot police arrived and wrestled at least one man to the ground.

A German police spokesman later said the two groups of fans had been split up and seven Serbian nationals had been arrested in the clashes. Although the circumstances of the incident remain unclear, German police confirmed that the groups involved were British and Serb.

Meanwhile, British police said they were aware of the incident in Germany. "At this stage, we do not believe any British nationals have been arrested but enquiries are ongoing.

Our officers are on site speaking to their German counterparts. Our investigation team is currently examining footage of the incident and if any British nationals were involved we will seek a restraining order," the agency said.

"Chairs, bottles, everything you can imagine was thrown down," one witness said. Many of the perpetrators of the violence fled the scene before police arrived.

Police monitor fans in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, June 16 - Photo: REUTERS

Police then sealed off the area, while smaller teams were deployed to hunt down those who had fled the scene.

According to the Guardian , more than 30,000 England fans, 20,000 of whom are believed to have tickets, were in Gelsenkirchen to watch the match against Serbia.

The England-Seriba match has been rated as “high risk” due to fears of violence between fan groups. Last week, police warned that up to 500 violent Serbian fans could be looking to cause trouble.

According to Al Jazeera, the word “high risk” means that drinks with lower alcohol content will be sold. At the same time, no alcohol of any kind will be allowed in the stadium’s stands. Accordingly, Gelsenkirchen will only serve low-alcohol beer in an attempt to reduce the possibility of incidents.

The match then took place without incident as a large number of German police attempted to separate the English and Serbian fans.

The number of arrests at football matches in England has risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number now at its highest level in a decade. As of August 2023, there were 1,624 football bans issued, up 24% on the previous year.

This season, all banned British citizens must surrender their passports for the duration of the tournament in Germany.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chien-thang-cua-tuyen-anh-truoc-serbia-bi-huy-hoai-boi-bao-luc-20240617151411207.htm