Fribourg-Gottéron’s remarkable home sell-out streak ended at 103 matches at the BCF Arena after the local prefecture and police imposed mandatory travel restrictions that triggered a boycott from SC Bern’s ultra supporters, La Liberté reported.
Travel Restrictions Imposed by Authorities Precede the Derby
Ahead of the first Zähringen derby of the National League season on September 29, the prefecture of la Sarine enforced a heavily supervised travel protocol for visiting supporters. According to announcements from the Canton Police of Fribourg, the measure was enacted in coordination with the prefecture of the Singine and both participating clubs to prevent violent clashes that marred fixtures during the previous campaign. At the time of the announcement, no specific transport had been set up.
Police stipulations dictated that ticket sales for the BCF Arena visitor sector were strictly conditional on purchasing a combined travel package featuring compulsory transit via dedicated fan trains or special buses. Authorities warned that any independent travel attempts would be met with immediate security adjustments to maintain public order. The Canton Police stated they were prepared to adapt their deployment to guarantee public order and absolute respect for prefectural decisions.
Curva Berna Organizes a Matchday Boycott in Response
In direct opposition to these security decrees, the SC Bern ultra collective known as the “Curva Berna” announced a complete boycott of the trip to Fribourg, Blick reported. The fan group condemned the administrative constraints placed on their mobility, opting to stay away from the stadium rather than comply with the mandated transit arrangements.
Fribourg-Gottéron Claims Victory on the Ice Despite the Empty Visitor Sector
While the atmosphere in the stands bore the marks of the boycott, the action on the ice delivered a high-scoring contest between the reigning Swiss champions and their traditional rivals. Fribourg-Gottéron secured a 5-2 victory, RTS reported, successfully defending their home ice in the opening derby of the campaign under head coach Roger Rönnberg. The encounter marked Fribourg’s first Zähringen derby played as Swiss champions, following their historic title win in Davos last April.
The match began poorly for the hosts when Rodwin Dionicio opened the scoring for SC Bern just 12 seconds into the contest. Dionicio later added a second goal in the 30th minute to make it 3-2, but Fribourg responded through Christoph Bertschy, who scored the 1-1 equalizer in the 5th minute and the 3-1 goal in the 23rd minute, in addition to providing an assist on Jacob de la Rose’s power-play goal in the 17th minute. A second power-play success by Jamiro Reber at the 39th minute allowed Fribourg to manage the third period, and Sandro Schmid sealed the final score into an empty net at the 59th minute. In other National League action, Genève-Servette secured their fourth victory by dominating Kloten 4-0, led by power-play goals from Sakari Manninen in the 15th minute and Jimmy Vesey in the 19th minute.
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