Shortly after the referee blew for full time in Sunday’s Allsvenskan derby between AIK and Hammarby (2-2), violence broke out in the stands.
Discovery+’s telecast showed supporters of both teams breaking through barriers between the stands, seeking each other out to fight or throwing things and pyrotechnics at each other.
Later in the evening, the police also detained nearly 100 people in Årsta, after further confrontation between supporters broke out.
Can result in imprisonment
During Sunday evening, the police announced that they had opened two investigations into violent riots.
— All those taken into custody last night have been filmed and identified. They were driven out to different places south of Årsta with different buses to separate the group gathering and calm down the situation, says police press secretary Ola Österling to SVT the day after the derby.
For some of those involved, severe penalties can await, says Österling. At the moment, the police are comparing images from the clash in Årsta with television images from the Friends arena, as well as from the police’s own cameras in the arena.
“We are positive that many will be identified and called in for questioning during the week,” says Österling.
— For those who are identified and have been participants in violent riots, there is imprisonment on the punishment scale. There may also be a question of organizer suspension or access ban.
“Applies to have precision”
No one is said to have been seriously injured in connection with the events. But AIK’s head of security Henrik Koch told TV4’s Fotbollskanalen after the match that an AIK audience host and at least one Hammarby supporter had been hit in the head by thrown chairs.
The elite clubs’ interest organization Swedish elite football (Sef) has been in contact with AIK after the derby. Next, a thorough investigation awaits to see what has broken.
– It must be remembered that of the approximately 45,000 who were present, the majority were not participating in this. It is important to have precision to access those who were involved. I can see in front of me that some access bans will be handed out, says Sef’s general secretary Mats Enquist to SVT.
Corrected: An earlier version stated the wrong day of the week in the preamble. It is true that the match was played on Sunday.