FC Servette fans during the game against FC Winterthur on April 28, 2024.
Keystone
The head of the Swiss Football League (SFL) wants harsher penalties for troublemakers at stadiums. However, he repeated the stance that collective punishment measures are counter-productive.
“We want tougher sentences for those who clearly can’t change their behaviour. That’s where we need to intervene,” Claudius Schäfer told the Blick newspaper on Saturday. “We are talking about endangering the lives of others,” he said.
But Schäfer repeated his criticism of the so-called “cascade model”, which authorities want to introduce to curb fan violence – against the wishes of the clubs and the league. He criticised the fact that closing down sectors in stadiums has no effect on violence and merely spurs solidarity between moderate fans and hooligans.
+ Hooliganism: Swiss authorities gamble on tough approach
“It is essential to prosecute offenders individually,” added the SFL boss on SRF public radio on Saturday. He also said he doubted that stricter checks would prevent fans from bringing fireworks into stadiums. These are part of the “ultra” culture throughout Europe – even where personalised tickets have been introduced.
Schäfer also reiterated that most hooligan-related trouble occurs outside rather than inside stadiums.
Foul play
The debate about flares follows a match between FC Winterthur and FC Servette last Sunday, which saw fans of the latter causing violence before, during and after the match.
Dozens of Servette fans invaded the pitch after the game, and some threw pyrotechnic objects into the stands. One person was hit with a flare, but no one was injured.
The two clubs met again on Saturday in the Super League, this time in Geneva. Because of the incidents last weekend, the authorities decided on Tuesday that the north stand of the Stade de Genève would remain closed during the match.
Adapted from French by DeepL/dos
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