The heated West Derby between Wacker Innsbruck and Austria Salzburg escalated after the final whistle. Masked fans caused massive disturbances around the Tivoli stadium and later in the city centre. Here is the police account of the situation.
Rioting broke out following the West Derby in Austria’s 2nd Division between the long-established clubs Wacker Innsbruck and Austria Salzburg (0–1) on Friday evening at the Tivoli Stadium, which was sold out with more than 16,100 spectators. According to police reports, it was mainly Wacker supporters – some of whom were masked – who carried out the attacks, initially around the stadium and then in the city centre. Five people were arrested – two on suspicion of resisting the authorities and three for “brawling”, which, according to the Austrian Criminal Code, refers to a physical altercation involving several people.
The police announced this on Saturday in a “preliminary report”. In addition, there were nine short-term administrative detentions. A total of 21 complaints were filed for breaches of public decency, disturbing the peace, aggressive behaviour and violations of the ban on wearing face coverings, it was reported. No details were initially available regarding injuries or damage to property.
After the match had ended, more than 150 predominantly masked supporters of the defeated FC Wacker broke through a perimeter fence at the sports ground located to the east of the stadium – apparently to attack the away supporters. Among other things, fireworks were fired in the direction of the police officers on duty and the away supporters. It was emphasised that further violent attacks could only have been prevented through decisive intervention. The police were forced to use pepper spray and batons.
Riots in the city centre
The riots between supporters of the two clubs then shifted to the city centre. There, too, there were “violent confrontations, brawls and resistance against intervening police officers”, the Provincial Police Headquarters reported.
The derby between the two arch-rivals in the western part of Austria – the first after a break of over ten years – was classified as a so-called high-risk match. Up to 600 police officers were deployed. Before the match, there had also been fan marches by supporters of both sides. Thanks to this victory, Austria temporarily overtook Wacker in the table to move into fourth place.