PRAGUE (AP) – Slavia Prague are facing harsh penalties after fans invaded the pitch during injury time during Saturday night’s Czech League derby match against Sparta.
“Such behavior will not be tolerated in professional soccer,” the Disciplinary Committee of the League Soccer Association, which oversees professional soccer in the country, said after an extraordinary meeting on Sunday.
Slavia’s punishment could be announced on Tuesday. This could include forfeiting matches, banning fans from stadiums and fines.
The commission also initiated legal proceedings against the Spartans, alleging that Spartan fans used fireworks to damage the stadium.
In the 97th minute, hundreds of Slavia fans stormed onto the pitch brandishing smoke bombs and attacked several Spartan players, including Slovakian goalkeeper Jakub Slovcik, defender Jakub Martinec, and forward Matiáš Vojta.
At the time, Slavia was leading 3-2 and was on track to defend the Czech title with minutes left and three games remaining.
However, the match was called off.
Slavia chief executive Jaroslav Turdik described the fans’ behavior as “unacceptable and deplorable”.
“Slavian values are not hatred or violence,” Tvrdik said. “We accept responsibility and deliver results.”
He apologized and said the club would cooperate with the association and police.
Sparta said Saturday’s incident was not an “isolated excess” but rather “the culmination of an atmosphere of hatred against our club.”
Czech Football Association president David Tranda said the incident had caused damage to “Czech football, the clubs and the vast majority of decent fans.”
Tvrdik announced on Sunday that Slavia would close the North Stand, which houses their loyal fans, with immediate effect. Tvrdik added that the stand will be closed until all perpetrators have been identified and brought to justice, while Slavia will work on measures to prevent such incidents in the future “even if it means closing the North Stand for the entire 2026-2027 season”.
The perpetrator will be permanently banned from the Slavia stadium.
Tvrdik said the two Slavia players who were shown red cards during the derby, league top scorer Tomáš Chori and defender David Dudeira, have been suspended for the remainder of the season. The club later placed the pair on the transfer list.
Both are members of the national team that has qualified for the next tournament. world cup For the first time in 20 years.
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