During the match between Cracovia and Widzew Łódź, a group of hooligans went onto the roof of the Krakow stadium and set off flares and fireworks. According to the fire department, a “small fire” broke out on the roof of the building. The match was interrupted for several minutes.
A fan at the match filmed the incident, showing fireworks exploding above the away stands and flares being lit.
As reported by Bartłomiej Rosiek, spokesman for the Krakow firefighters, the match was secured by two rescue and firefighting teams, a total of 11 firefighters. No one was hurt in the “small fire”.
In turn, Piotr Szpiech, spokesman for the Kraków city police, said that the match organizer was responsible for safety at the stadium, who asked the uniformed officers to intervene around the 60th minute of the match. “Indeed, several pieces of pyrotechnics were set off during the match. At the moment, no one has been detained, but the monitoring is being analyzed, we are identifying these people,” the spokesman noted. He added that the hooligans who climbed onto the roof of the stadium violated the provisions of the Act on the Safety of Mass Events.
Flares and fireworks launched on the roof of the Cracovia stadiumGrzegorz Waranecki
Cracovia's statement
On Monday evening, the Krakow club published a statement in which it “regrets that public order has been breached” and assures that the event was properly secured, including reinforced security and “additional security measures in the stadium infrastructure”.
“We are currently assessing the damage to the guest sector. Based on initial inspection, the sector will be closed until the end of the season,” the statement reads.
The Widzew website published a report from the match, which only mentions that “the match was interrupted for eleven minutes due to chaos in the stands and… the roof of the stadium on Kałuży Street.”
The match was resumed after the firefighters’ intervention and ended with the score 1:3 for the visitors.
Main image source: Grzegorz Waranecki