Prague
Slavia Prague faces stiff punishment after its followers invaded the pitch throughout stoppage time in a derby match towards Sparta in the Czech league on Saturday night time.
The disciplinary committee of the League Football Association that oversees skilled soccer in the nation mentioned after a rare assembly on Sunday that “such behavior will not be tolerated in professional football.”
Slavia’s punishment may very well be introduced on Tuesday, it mentioned. It may embody forfeiting the match, banning of followers from the stadium and a high-quality.
The committee additionally opened proceedings towards Sparta after their followers used pyrotechnics and broken the stadium.
Hundreds of Slavia followers, many brandishing flares, stormed the pitch in the 97th minute and attacked a number of Sparta players, together with Slovak goalkeeper Jakub Surovčík, defender Jakub Martinec and ahead Matyáš Vojta.
At the time, Slavia was main 3-2 and was on course to defend the Czech title with simply minutes remaining and three video games to go.
However, the match was deserted.
Slavia chief government Jaroslav Tvrdík known as the followers’ habits “unacceptable and deplorable.”
“The values of Slavia are not hatred and violence,” Tvrdík mentioned. “We settle for duty and draw penalties.“
He apologized and mentioned the membership will cooperate with the affiliation and police.
Sparta mentioned occasions on Saturday weren’t “an isolated excess” however relatively “the culmination of an atmosphere of hatred towards our club.”
Czech Soccer Association head David Trunda mentioned the incident was damaging to “Czech football, the clubs and the overwhelming majority of decent fans.”
Tvrdík introduced Sunday that Slavia would shut its North Stand, which hosts die-hard followers, with instant impact. The stand can be closed till all of the perpetrators are recognized and dropped at justice, Tvrdík added, whereas Slavia will work on measures to stop such incidents in the longer term ”even when meaning closing the North Stand for your complete 2026-’27 season.“
The perpetrators can be banned from Slavia’s stadium for life.
The two Slavia players who had been proven pink playing cards in the course of the derby — league main scorer Tomáš Chorý and defender David Douděra — had been suspended for the remainder of the season, Tvrdík mentioned. The membership later transfer-listed the pair.
Both are members of the nationwide group that has certified for the forthcoming World Cup for the primary time in 20 years.