Dhe football showed his ugly grimace again on Thursday. The police report on the Europa League game between Frankfurter Eintracht and FC Antwerp lists the offenses and crimes in great detail, ranging from skirmishes and acts of violence against the police and the security staff to the firing and burning of fireworks and pyrotechnics in the stadium the way to the arena and the Frankfurt Christmas market. The millions of viewers on TV saw the detonation of two firecrackers and the ignition of about 30 red-hot Bengalos.
Companions from the traditional Belgian club were responsible for the vast majority of the offenses; in total, around 1000 made their way to Frankfurt. Why so many in times of Corona? It was about revenge. Because in the first leg in Antwerp, Eintracht Ultras and groups close to them had thrown gauntlet. Several hundred Frankfurters demonstrated their concentrated power, among other things, by stirring up a popular FC fan bar.
It was clear to all experts that the Belgians would not let this sit on themselves. The police prepared conscientiously for the confrontation and mobilized a large number of security forces, several water cannons were also in use. This prevented a major escalation of violence, but not every act of violence. The number of rioters and their criminal energy was too great for that.
In order to implement a strategy of zero tolerance, the choice of police means would have to have been disproportionate. This is also the answer to the question of why the culprits can even manage to smuggle pyrotechnics into the stands. In order to be able to find all the pyro pens the size of a thick felt-tip pen, the spectators would have to undress naked in front of the inspectors at the entrance controls.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
The police were able to record as a success that they prevented the Antwerp and Frankfurt Radau brothers from clashing. Which was made easier for her insofar as the Frankfurt Ultras do not enter the stadium in Corona times, because otherwise they would have to provide information about their personal details. They limit their activities at home games to meetings in the Gleisdreieck car park. Only in selected away games, see Antwerp, do they intensify their program.
So it wasn’t members of ultra groups who set the two firecrackers on fire in the Frankfurt fan curve and threw them towards the field. Then who was it? The assumption is that it was confused spirits who wanted to take revenge for Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who had been thrown in Antwerp by Belgians between the legs.
Which brings us back to the idea of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, which is an essential part of the crude concept of honor of organized fan groups in football. It can only be described as Stone Age, but the rituals of demarcation and superiority towards other packs do not stop at the exercise of violence.
So there is little hope that at some point we will no longer see the ugly face of football. It is part of it. Politicians, police and clubs can only try to ensure that this face appears as rarely as possible.
