After Schalke hooligans attacked Bergamo fans near the arena, Gelsenkirchen’s police president Tim Frommeyer chose drastic words.
After the attack by Schalke hooligans on Wednesday evening on fans of the Italian Champions League club Atalanta Bergamo, Gelsenkirchen’s police president Tim Frommeyer reacted with dismay and incomprehension. “Violence has no place in sport and we are doing everything we can to identify the suspects,” Frommeyer said in a police press release.
What really concerns him is the fact that “the obviously violence-oriented fans of FC Schalke 04 were only out for violence and were waiting for a situation to attack peaceful fans of Atalanta Bergamo,” Frommeyer explained.
The fact that Gelsenkirchen is hosting the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk this season, giving them a home ground for their Champions League home games because of the war in their own country, gives this act “another bitter aftertaste,” as the police president puts it.
“I firmly expect that the club Schalke 04 will also take a clear position here and disapprove of this behavior. As a first step, I expect the club to sanction the four suspects who have already been identified for their behavior and to impose a stadium ban on them,” said Frommeyer, bluntly demanding consequences.
The police are doing everything they can to protect fans and clubs, said the police president. Fortunately, the police were quickly on the scene to prevent further violence. “I am glad that no police officers were injured during this operation,” said Frommeyer.
Police want to recommend to UEFA that no more “guest performances” be held at Schalke
Of course, the Gelsenkirchen police will react to the incident and adapt the operational concept for the upcoming games of FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the arena. One possible consequence of the incidents could be a recommendation to UEFA not to allow any more “guest performances” by foreign clubs at Schalke in the future, Frommeyer paints a bleak scenario. This would also have financial consequences for the Royal Blues, as the club receives a sum in the millions for allowing the arena to be used by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Frommeyer is committed to punishing the obviously violence-oriented, alleged “fans” of FC Schalke 04, who had nothing to do with this football game, with all severity. “Such behavior is not only out of the question, it is anti-social,” said Frommeyer in plain language.