During the Zurich derby on Saturday evening, the police surrounded around 500 GC fans on the Duttweiler Bridge and carried out identity checks for over four hours. GC fans find the operation disproportionate, the police explain themselves and provide photos of seized material.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- On Saturday evening, the Zurich derby between FCZ and GC ended in a 1-1 draw.
- More talked about than the football was an operation by the Zurich city police, who stopped around 500 GC fans in the city and carried out identity checks for four hours.
- While GC fans felt they had been treated unfairly, the police explained the operation with the setting off of firecrackers and published photos of confiscated material.
The 287th Zurich derby on Saturday evening will be remembered above all for the fact that the GC curve remained half-empty for almost the entire match. The reason for this was the encirclement of around 500 GC fans on the Duttweiler Bridge. blue Sport spoke to a GC fan who was there but wishes to remain anonymous and to the Zurich city police.
The minutes of the evening
The new meeting point
The fan march was originally planned to start at Josefswiese, but because the FCZ fans also wanted to meet there for the fan march on Saturday, the city police reacted. In a communiqué, the Stapo wrote that they would not tolerate fan marches from the Josefwiese. The GC fans will therefore meet at Turbinenplatz. From there, 500 people set off shortly before 6 pm.
The route over the Duttweiler Bridge
As always, the GC fans wanted to cross the tracks in the direction of Letzigrund stadium via the Duttweiler Bridge. According to the GC fan, a few pyros were set off. They were just small flares. The fans were then surrounded by a large police force in the middle of the Duttweiler Bridge.
When asked by blue Sport, Lukas Scheuber from the media service of the Zurich city police explained: "The reason for this was that very dangerous firecracker petards were set off." Dozens of them were let off within the first few meters of the Duttweiler Bridge.
These firecracker petards can endanger third parties and over 100 of them had already been set off at the last derby. Because it was assumed that this would be the case again, checks were carried out on the Duttweiler Bridge to avert danger: "We saw the situation and therefore reacted. The operations management was prepared for this," says Scheuber.
The Grasshoppers are aware of the problem. In a press release on Sunday, GC wrote that they have always rejected the setting off of firecrackers and only recently increased the penalty for this to a five-year stadium ban. In addition, the fan curve distributed flyers after the last derby proclaiming zero tolerance towards the setting off of firecrackers.
The identity check
On the Duttweiler Bridge, the GC fans were checked one by one. IDs were checked, residences were checked and the fans were assigned numbers. A photo was taken of the fans with the number held up on a piece of paper. The police confirmed this procedure.
The GC fan explains that he was checked about halfway through the 500 or so fans, by which time it had already taken around two hours: "It's worrying how long it actually took and an above-average number of innocent people had to suffer as a result. It's out of all proportion to lock up 500 people to take a few people out." The city police explain their approach: "There were around 500 people, some of whom were unruly. That doesn't work immediately, of course." Around three people were also arrested. They had thrown bottles in the direction of the police.
The city police also shared photos showing material seized during the checks: "These objects justify the checks," explained Scheuber. In addition to pyro material, the pictures also show knives, batons and gloves.
The Zurich city police share pictures of material seized from GC fans on the Duttweiler Bridge.
Image: Bild: Stadtpolizei Zürich
Image: Bild: Stadtpolizei Zürich
Image: Bild: Stadtpolizei Zürich
The Zurich city police share pictures of material seized from GC fans on the Duttweiler Bridge.
Image: Bild: Stadtpolizei Zürich
Image: Bild: Stadtpolizei Zürich
Image: Bild: Stadtpolizei Zürich
Way home instead of Letzigrund
The fans who were checked were only allowed to leave the Duttweilerbrücke in the direction of the Toni-Areal, where they had come from. The detour meant that the match was over for many of the GC supporters anyway, according to the anonymous GC fan: "Many then watched the match on the street and walked home afterwards. Most of them couldn't use the CHF 25 ticket."
What about the FC Zurich fans?
GC fans are particularly upset that supporters of city rivals FC Zurich were able to enter the stadium without any major incidents. Are the fans not treated equally? The Zurich city police explained: "The FCZ fans hardly set off any dangerous fireworks. Pyrotechnics were set off, but mostly smoke. If something dangerous had happened there, we would have had to react there too."
The next derby on Tuesday
The next Zurich derby is already scheduled for next Tuesday, this time in the Swiss Cup. The anonymous GC fan speculates that many of the Grasshoppers supporters will not take part in the march, if there is one at all. The city police are prepared in any case. They will react within the framework of proportionality in order to guarantee public safety, according to Scheuber from the Stapo.
