According to the police, prohibited pyrotechnic devices are hidden under the sheets spread over the public. FC Inter’s representative considers the sheet ban excessive.
The football club Inter has appealed to the administrative court of Turku about the decision of the Southwest Finland police to ban large support sheets in the stands.
The police have forbidden the bringing of support sheets and large banners to be spread over the spectators to the matches of Inter, who play in the Veikkausliiga, Inter’s second team, and TPS, who play in the first.
The reason is that, according to the police, the sheets have been used to cover up the use of prohibited pyrotechnic devices, torches and smoke in the stands.
On Thursday, FC Inter Turku filed a complaint with the Turku Administrative Court against the decision of the Southwest Finland Police and demands that the ban be overturned.
He was the first to tell about it Helsingin Sanomat.
– The sheet has been spread, and under it the supporters have possibly changed places and clothes, so that the users of the pyrotechnic products could not be identified, inspector Harri Aaltonen tells Helsingin Sanomat about the police in southwestern Finland.
FC Inter: The ban is excessive
reached a member of the board of FC Inter Turku Oy By Julius Håkans. Håkans considers the ban excessive and unfounded and states that pyrotechnics and support sheets are two different things.
– The use of support sheets is in no way dangerous to public safety, and the police order does not present any concrete evidence that the sheets are the cause of any kind of safety risks, says Håkans.
According to Håkans, the sheet ban is exceptional, and a similar ban has never been seen before in Finland or the world. According to him, the order can also damage supporters’ contact with the police.
– I personally see that such exaggerated regulations are dangerous precedents, which at worst can create permanent damage to the development of the entire Finnish football culture, if such regulations start to be applied nationwide.
The banning of sheets came as a surprise to the club. According to Håkans, the police was not in contact with the club about disorder or measures to correct it during the past season before presenting the order.
Inspector Harri Aaltosti could not be reached by .