Split police detain 57 after Hajduk and Ajax fans clash
Police detained 57 people on Split's Riva the night before the Conference League match, and police chief Marko Srdarevic announced preventive detentions and more incidents during the day.
Police in Split detained 57 people on Wednesday night after Hajduk and Ajax fans clashed on the Riva, just hours before the two clubs play a Conference League match at Poljud today at 6.45 pm. Marko Srdarevic, chief of the Split-Dalmatia Police Administration, told a press conference that more incidents are expected and that police will preventively detain people they judge could cause trouble during the day.
What happened on the Riva
Srdarevic estimated that about 500 people took part in the disorder: roughly 200 Dutch fans and roughly 300 troublemakers among Hajduk supporters. About 100 officers were on the Riva when the violence broke out, and about as many joined them soon after. Police say they used force to push the two groups in opposite directions and followed them through the city until they broke up into smaller groups.
Sources differ on several details. Index.hr reports that the clash began around 11.30 pm, while N1 info, citing Croatian media, gives 10.30 pm. Some reports, including ones carried by N1 info, speak of about 150 Torcida members who attacked Ajax fans, which is far fewer than the police estimate of 500 participants from both sides.
How long did the clash last, and what do police say?
The police statement says public order was restored in about fifteen minutes, while Srdarevic told the press conference the disorder was stopped in about twenty. By his account, the situation was almost over by 12.30 am and there were no incidents after that. He also claims there were no injuries or property damage in the intervention, and that officers “did not let the fans get to each other”.
Croatian media point out that footage and reports from the scene tell a different story: according to them, physical fighting broke out before police managed to separate the groups. The chief nonetheless said he was pleased with his officers:
“I am very grateful and proud of my colleagues from my own police administration, and also from the other police administrations, who reacted in such a way last night.”
What led up to the night on the Riva
Dutch fans began arriving in Split on Tuesday, two days before the match, so police had to organize security for the city over several days. Srdarevic said four incidents between the two groups of fans were recorded on Tuesday and Wednesday. In two of them, two Dutchmen were lightly injured, and six Croatian citizens were arrested as a result.
On Tuesday, 19 foreign and 13 Croatian citizens were detained, and some of them were found with knives, stones, pyrotechnics, boxing gloves and irritant sprays. Nineteen Dutchmen who brandished knives on the Riva were given seven days in jail and a two-year ban on coming to Poljud and the Riva. Some reports count those 19 among last night’s 57, while the police chief says they were detained on Tuesday. In total, 109 people have been detained since Tuesday, Srdarevic said.
Police also do not rule out that the locations of Dutch fans were being passed to attackers. Ajax warned its supporters not to give taxi drivers exact addresses, and Srdarevic says there is no evidence for that:
“We do not rule out the possibility that some taxi driver tells someone something, but we have not proven it.”
One of the leaders of the Ajax supporters’ association, Fabijan Nagtzam, called on UEFA to act in comments to Dutch broadcaster AT5: “Incidents like this keep repeating. UEFA should react in the strictest way. They attack ordinary fans who did not come to cause trouble. We saw similar scenarios in Athens and Naples, while in Marseille we were not even allowed to travel.”
What is expected in Split today?
Police are counting on about 1,900 Dutch fans and several thousand Hajduk fans in the city. The visitors will gather in a designated zone on the Western Coast, from where they will be taken to Poljud by organized bus transport and returned after the match. The rest of the city center is reserved for home fans.
Srdarevic also warned about the risk of ultras arriving, since by his account there are 200 to 300 members of that scene in Split:
“Coming as a visiting fan wearing fan insignia, and also belonging to some kind of ultras scene, is certainly not a place where you can expect there will be no problems.”
For tonight he was clear: “There will certainly be sporadic incidents, that is realistic to expect,” he said, adding that police are ready to prevent more serious consequences.
