It was supposed to be an atmospheric football festival in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. But the Schalke game against Hertha BSC quickly became a “ghost game”.
Berlin – The organized fan scenes of Hertha BSC and Schalke 04 have stopped supporting the second division game. The Ultras Gelsenkirchen said in a statement: “Due to strong police repression and violence at the entrance, both on the guest side and especially on the home side, both curves are foregoing active support today. We show our solidarity with the unacceptable conditions in and around the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.”
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Boycott of the mood at the Schalke game against Hertha BSC: Fan Help reports injuries
The Hertha BSC fan aid reported before the game X about “massive police violence against fans”. There are said to be several injured supporters, some seriously. During the game, many Hertha ultras left the stadium, as RUHR24 observed. Large parts of the fan curve were empty, the fans formed an oversized “ACAB” in the stands.
FC Schalke 04 also commented: “There will be no organized support from the Schalke corner for the time being. There was a police operation in the home area before the game.” All sporting developments in the game Hertha BSC against Schalke 04 can be read in the live ticker.
52 injured in Schalke game: Berlin police make a statement
After the game, the Berlin police gave up X made a statement: “Around today’s football game in the Olympic Stadium, there were violent attacks by individual groups of fans on our emergency services before the game even kicked off.”
“At the stadium entrance to the east curve, colleagues are said to have been pelted with barriers and attacked with striking tools after insults from masked fans,” it continues. The police emphasized: “Due to the violence and threat situation, it was necessary to use pepper spray against larger groups of violent criminals to protect the emergency services and uninvolved bystanders.”
According to the current status (January 17th, 10:39 p.m.), 21 emergency services and 31 fans are injured. Several people were arrested “on suspicion of insult, grievous bodily harm and on suspicion of a particularly serious breach of the peace.” The Berlin police announced that the investigation is continuing.
