Before and during the game in Rotterdam there are chaotic scenes. The club speaks of an “extremely tough” effort by the authorities, and hundreds of Berlin fans did not come to the stadium at first.
For the fans of 1. FC Union Berlin, the 3-1 defeat in the Europa Conference League at Feyenoord Rotterdam on Thursday was a minor matter. Chaotic scenes in front of the stadium in the Netherlands overshadowed the evening. 2400 Union fans actually wanted to be in the De Kuip stadium, but many were not allowed to enter the arena for a long time. There were extremely long waiting times, and fans of the club also reported on social networks of an over-tough police operation. Union followed this portrayal later, but could do little during the encounter. Attacks by the police and physical confrontations with officials were subsequently reported by those affected. Some of the fellow travelers had to be treated in hospital after the attacks. Afterwards, the evening should now be reconstructed with the help of memory logs of the fans.
“We have contact with our security officer. There was an extremely tough police operation with several injuries,” said press spokesman Christian Arbeit Sports information service. Arbeit added after the game: “There was a catastrophic admission situation. Hundreds of Unioners did not come into the stadium. That is not acceptable. We will evaluate the situation together with Feyenoord and Uefa and address these incidents very clearly.”
The fan community “Eiserne Hilfe” spoke of numerous arrests. “There were targeted attacks on the heads of those involved at the fan march, batons and dogs were used at the entrance, several people were bitten, have lacerations or are in the hospital,” said “Iron Aid” chairman Andreas Lattemann. He spoke of an operation “of an arbitrary nature”. On Wednesday, a Union delegation with club president Dirk Zingler was attacked by hooligans in a bar.
The police in Rotterdam spoke in a message that there were 75 arrests related to the game. According to this, a group of 59 people in total looked for a confrontation with Feyenoord fans before the encounter. According to the police, they were under suspicion of “preparing for open violence,” the statement said. The other 16 people are suspected of vandalism and possession of fireworks, among other things. The police also reported that a “small group of German hooligans” had attacked the officers. As a result of the attack, a police dog was used, which bit three Union fans as well as a police officer. The four affected had to be treated in hospital. A police horse and rider were also injured because the animal was frightened by fireworks and fell.
After the second defeat in the third game, Union is last in the group of four E. Israel’s champions Maccabi Haifa surprisingly won against Slavia Prague on Thursday evening and passed Berlin. The Czechs are also ahead of Union. However, the Köpenickers still have three games to get into the knockout round. The first in the group, currently Feyenoord, is sure to make it to the round of 16. The eight runners-up and thirds in the group play the other places.
On November 4th, Union Rotterdam will host the next duel in their home stadium at An der Alten Försterei. The capital city club doesn’t have much time to think about it. On Sunday (5.30 p.m.) the duel in the Bundesliga at VfB Stuttgart awaits. In the coming week, the second round match in the DFB Cup at Waldhof Mannheim and the home appearance against record champions Bayern Munich in the league will follow on Wednesday. Union is currently in fifth place there and has only lost one game out of eight.