At soccer tournament

Mass brawl causes tempers to flare

A hobby tournament escalated in the district sports hall in Schärding on Saturday

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

After the mass brawl at a soccer tournament in Schärding, the waves are running high online. But the topic is not new: the Upper Austrian Football Association recently invited people to discuss "How do we show aggression and violence on the soccer pitch the red card?"

The motto "Sport unites" did not seem to matter to the adult participants of a hobby soccer tournament in the Schärding district sports hall. Because instead of settling possible differences on the pitch, two teams got into an argument off it.

Fists were flying
First, six Turks and six Romanians are said to have insulted each other on Saturday afternoon, but shortly afterwards fists were flying. But it wasn't just the athletes who clashed, several spectators also got involved - several hundred people are said to have watched the soccer tournament.

Spectators also got involved
In the end, there was a mass brawl involving around 20 people, with two of the brawlers so badly injured that they had to be treated as outpatients in hospital. The organizer of the soccer tournament is said to have been the IKV Islamic Cultural Association in Schärding, which did not wish to comment on the incident.

Community condemns incident
On krone.at, readers condemned the incident: "Lifelong ban on all soccer pitches"; "It doesn't depend on the sport, but on the people themselves"; "After soccer, they played fistball" were the more harmless comments.

Escalations again and again
Violent clashes occur time and again at soccer matches, particularly in the hobby sector. Just last Saturday evening, several young people allegedly seriously injured a hall attendant in Graz because he wanted to deny them access due to a hall ban. And in April of last year, a video of an assistant referee in the Innviertel region shocked the public by beating up a player with his assistant's flag. This also led to a mass brawl and the match had to be abandoned.

It doesn't depend on the type of sport, but on the people themselves.

krone.at - Nutzer

Initiative of the Upper Austrian Football Association
In view of the current events, an initiative by the Upper Austrian Football Association seems more urgent than ever. At the club coaching conference held just the previous week, experts discussed the topic of "How do we show aggression and violence on the soccer pitch the red card?" The 150 club representatives in attendance are more challenged than ever.

Kommentar

Gewalt die Rote Karte zeigen

"Long live sport, it's healthy and makes us happy!" Whether the 20 or so bullies in Schärding also felt particularly "hort" can only be guessed at here. The fact is: violence has no place in sport, but it seems to be a problem in soccer in particular.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel, adobe.stock.com, Krone KREATIV)

It was not for nothing that a work colleague once said: "We chose our favorite club based on where there are hardly any violent excesses". In any case, the thugs are advised not to take the following sarcastic line from the Fendrich hit literally: "After a while, every sport seems a bit dull when it gets tough."