Escalation Before Match: Rapid Fans Attacked Police Officers, Kick-off Postponed

The football Bundesliga match TSV Hartberg - SK Rapid began on Sunday at around 5:45 PM, thus with a delay of about 45 minutes. Apparently, out of dissatisfaction with the procedures during the entry checks, fans of the Hütteldorf team attacked law enforcement officers with various projectiles, which led to the kickoff being postponed. The holding of the match was on the brink. Eventually, the authorities decided to proceed with the game.

Hartberg - Rapid Started Late Due to Riots

Before that, numerous fans had been standing on the track between the guest stand and the field for a long time during the riots. Hartberg President Brigitte Annerl was particularly committed to bringing the situation under control - she, like Rapid Managing Director Steffen Hofmann, sought dialogue with the fans and was ultimately successful. "They assured me that there will be no more incidents," the club president explained after the discussion with various supporters on Sky.

Hofmann said in the Sky interview after the game: "This is certainly not what we all want to see in the stadium. The situation could have been resolved differently by both sides. There was an arrest and then it all started," the German explained and also stated: "It makes no sense to talk about who did what. It always takes two."

Incidents Will Have Consequences

The incidents in Hartberg will definitely have consequences, a procedure by the Bundesliga is to be expected. As a league spokesperson told APA, a first-instance verdict is not expected on Monday. First, the various reports need to be obtained, it was said.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.