Apparently, the evening's usual local soccer game was to be a bit unusual. I'm still not entirely sure which teams were actually playing, though one was certainly the second-string players for Graz's beloved SK Sturm. They play here pretty frequently, though the real, first-string team plays at a much more grandiose stadium. The opposition wore blue, and they had a very adamant cheering section of about two-dozen young men who, starting an hour before the game, kept up a constant not-so-dull roar of cheering, jeering, chanting, singing and setting off firecrackers in the stands. The riot police took the liberty of front-row seats for the action.
Needless to say, the home team won the game, which left the boys in blue to seek creative ways to vent their frustration... tearing down a metal barricade seperating their section of the stands from that of the home crowd.
I really couldn't believe my eyes as I watched the cops go after the fans with their billy clubs. They even knocked down two guys and later dragged them out of the stands in handcuffs.
On the other side of the stadium. a line of riot cops stood gaurd to prevent the home team fans from rushing the field.
The fans didn't take well to this -- they threw rocks.
They also fgured out how to turn on the sprinklers, but I missed the photo opp because a security guard with a German shepherd in tow was quick to rush over and put a stop to it.
The chaos lasted for an hour or so after the game had ended, with the fans continuously trying to find a way around the cops to go at each other's throats. It's all part of European soccer culture, but to me it is baffling. This is the first time I have seen this type of violence and police brutality in person. Usually it's just the stuff of Fox News reports, not happening in my backyard. I don't understand how otherwise mild-mannered Austrians get so riled up about soccer that they turn to violence, but it is a well-known fact that after every real SK Sturm game there is a fight somewhere in Graz -- the fans arrange a post-game meeting point in advance so they can go at each other without police interference. This event was minor compared to what goes on in conjunction with a real, professional game, but to me it was still shocking and thrilling in a voyeuristic way. I was only too glad that I was viewing it from the safety of my balcony, though, rather than in the thick of things. It didn't seem like any "innocents" were involved in any skirmishes, but i still wouldn't have wanted to be down there.
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