Hooligans Derby: Football game stopped three times, torches slipped onto the stadium, conflicts with gendarmes

Duminică, 25 noiembrie 2007, 14:56 English | Bucharest

The football game between two of the most important Bucharest teams, Steaua and Dinamo, became on Saturday night the stage of a violent confrontation between groups of hooligans from both galleries. During the first half of the game, Professional Football League officials seriously considered to evacuate the stadium, due to a thick curtain of smoke that covered the field. The smoke came from illegally slipped torches that Police forces seemed to be unaware of.

One hour and a half before the game, over 100 Steaua supporters begun a fight with the gendarmes ensuring the perimeter security, in an attempt to "meet face to face" the Dinamo supporters. Several cars parked in the area were damaged, including a Police car. Gendarmes were forced to use tear gas.

During the warm up of the teams, a torch was thrown on the field, gendarmes replying with another round of tear gas. The air became impossible to breathe for a few minutes.

The game was stopped three times because of the smoking torches thrown on the field. There is information that the torches in the Dinamo section were placed under the seats during the morning. After the game, the Police retained Dinamo supporters for one hour on the stadium. According to Dinamo witnesses, some of them were to a Police station, photographed and had the fingerprints checked.

Gendarmes announced that 434 supporters were confined, 12 criminal files were opened and 70 persons were fined after the incidents on Saturday night.