The Polish Cup match between Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznan in Bydgoszcz ended in a riot Tuesday with police fighting hooligans who invaded the pitch and threw fire crackers, torn-out seats and metal objects.
Police used a water cannon on the hooligans, who caused about 40,000 zlotys ($13,000) in damages in a match won 5-4 on penalties by Legia.
In an e-mail message to The Associated Press, UEFA said it is “aware of the incidents and will continue to work together with the various entities involved in security matters to develop and put in place all necessary measures.” The rioting has raised questions about security in the country ahead of Euro 2012, which Poland will co-host with Ukraine.
Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country had “many strict regulations” on stadium security and called on the authorities and match organizers to strictly adhere to them.
They should follow police guidance and close stadiums to fans if security could not be assured during matches, Tusk said.
He called for bans to be strictly enforced on hooligans and to punish anyone who brought dangerous objects into stadiums or covered their faces during disturbances.
On his part, Polish Football Federation President Grzegorz Lato blamed the law for giving football officials no means to bar hooligans from matches, and Bydgoszcz Mayor Rafal Bruski said the law and police inefficiency were to blame.
“We have no tools to fight pseudo fans,” Lato told a news conference. “The police, the prosecutors and the courts have the tools. We have done all we could.” Lato said the rioting is a “scandal” and exposes the weakness of Poland’s legislation.
He believes there should be no trouble in stadiums during Euro 2012 because most of the tickets will be sold to fans from various countries.
On Wednesday, the head of the police team responsible for fighting stadium hooliganism was suspended for writing to football authorities to ask them to issue a ticket to a man who is under a stadium ban and is known to have been violent.
