Carinthians tracked down

Stadium jumper seriously injures fan coordinator

The championship match ended in hospital for a fan coordinator

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

In May, a fan coordinator of the black team suffered serious injuries during the final Bundesliga match between SK Sturm Graz and Austria Klagenfurt: Despite warnings not to do so, a Klagenfurt fan jumped over the stadium ditch and hit the 35-year-old with full force. 

What a day of joy it was for SK Sturm Graz on May 19! The team sealed the championship title with a 2:0 win against Austria. The euphoria among the fans was great, but it ended abruptly for one fan supervisor (35). Together with other stewards, he tried to prevent a stampede and interfered with the fans accordingly. But a fan from Carinthia (34) ignored the requests and instructions, climbed over the barrier of the north stand and jumped over the 2.35 meter wide stadium ditch. He landed with full force on the fan attendant!

The man suffered several fractures, including to his hip joint and thigh. He underwent emergency surgery at the accident hospital the same night. As a nice gesture, he received a visit from the championship team shortly afterwards, including a championship plate delivered directly to his bedside. But that does nothing to change his ordeal. He will soon be undergoing rehabilitation, and permanent consequences cannot be ruled out. 

The latest successful investigation shows how important it is to bring violent criminals and troublemakers out of the anonymity of the crowd and bring them to justice.

Stadtpolizeikommandant Brigadier Thomas Heiland

The suspect was not investigated because he had turned himself in. According to police spokesman Markus Lamb, the "jumper" disappeared into the celebrating crowd and went into hiding. It was only through intensive viewing of video footage by investigating officers, research on the Internet, for example on various social media channels with extensive visual field analyses, that the suspect could be tracked down. According to the police, he has basically confessed to the crime and now claims that he did not mean to do it and that it was an accident. As the police disagree with this - given the number of people, he had to expect to hit someone when he jumped - he will be charged with grievous bodily harm by the public prosecutor's office. 

Investigation team set upto investigate "scene-typical violence in sport"
 As serious incidents at matches in the Merkur Arena have become more frequent - think back to the scandalous derby - the police have now set up an investigation team to investigate "scene-typical violence in sport". "The latest successful investigation shows how important it is to get violent offenders and troublemakers out of the anonymity of the crowd and bring them to justice," says Graz City Police Commander Brigadier Thomas Heiland. "The investigation team has been set up at the Criminal Investigation Department of the City Police Command and is tasked with investigating relevant offenses in the vicinity of major sporting events in close cooperation with the public prosecutor's office and the scene-awareness officers (SKB)," informs police spokesperson Lamb. The technical possibilities of IT forensics are to be used increasingly in this area.