Fans of the Polish national football team, who were in Croatia for the last Nations League match, will not remember this trip fondly.
Photo: Profimedia
Polish fans at the match in Osijek.
Not only did the Poles lose 0:1 in Osijek, but the home Croatians attacked the fans of this country. Rijeka’s former coach Željko Sopić was an eyewitness to the incident. He described a larger group of hooligans in full force beating several Poles in their 50s and 60s.
A major incident was prevented by the police, who arrested five people, one of whom was slightly injured.
“These are situations in which you are ashamed to be Croatian. These kids in black T-shirts beat up five or six Polish fans aged 50-60 and then, of course, ran away,” coach Željko Sopić told 24sata.hr.
Poles in Croatia felt like prey, Polish websites also write, and one of them – Przegladsportowy.onet.pl – reports on the statement of one of the fans who was beaten and ended up at the police station in Osijek.
According to eyewitnesses, an organized group of Croatian fans attacked the Poles.
“We were coming back from the match and we were singing. At one point, some of our supporters noticed the home fans from Osijek, who attacked us before the match. They ran after them, but I don’t know who beat whom because I was about 400 meters away from the incident .
In the audience were normal people who were not involved in the riots. One of the fans, who was trying to speak calmly to the police, was pushed away and hit his head hard on the concrete. They detained 67 people, most of whom had nothing to do with the battle.
We were told to lie down in the gym of the local police station. For the first three hours, they took information from us and filmed us, saying that they would check on the video who was involved in the incidents. Then they took us for a breathalyzer test,” remembers Poliak, who documents everything with photos.
The Polish fan revealed that each of them had to pay 200 euros to get away from the police station.
“Then they told us that we would all be fined 200 euros for disturbing the peace. Those who don’t pay will receive a motion for arrest and an expedited trial. After seven hours, everyone left the police station.
The fan, who was brutally thrown onto the concrete by the police, lay in the police station for almost an hour without any help. At one point he began to convulse and we all stood up in protest and shouted that we needed help.
Only then was an ambulance called and the unconscious fan was taken to the hospital,” explained the Polish football supporter.
“Maybe you won’t believe me, but I’m a normal person. I don’t get involved in fights, and that’s how it was this time. We were victims of an event that none of us had anything to do with.
They intimidated us and ordered us to pay a lot of money to be able to return home,” concludes the Polish fan, attaching a fine and proof of payment in the amount of 200 euros.
Polish media reports that their national team will play their next Nations League match on October 12 at home against Portugal and three days later against Croatia. They hope that similar situations will be avoided in their country.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
