Kriens, SWITZERLAND, July 16 (AP) - Fighting between Serb and Croat fans and players
forced officials to abandon the final of a preseason football tournament in
central Switzerland.
Wednesday night's match between Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and
Serbia's Partizan Belgrade was stopped in the 68th minute with Zagreb
leading 2-0. Police made at least 10 arrests and one spectator collapsed
and was taken to a hospital.
The trouble began in the 12th minute when a bad foul led to a brawl involving
all the players and officials from the two teams. There was a second scuffle
shortly before halftime after the Belgrade coach, former German World Cup
star Lothar Matthaus, shouted at the players on the Zagreb bench.
Referee Carlo Bertolini stopped the match after Ivica Olic scored the second
goal for Zagreb and hundreds of Croatian fans stormed onto the field. The
Zagreb fans celebrated and then fought with Belgrade supporters who had
also invaded the field. Around 200 police officers broke up the fighting and
directed the rival fans out of the stadium.
Dinamo Zagreb and Partizan Belgrade had been taking part in the four-team
Aqua-Nova-Cup in Kriens. They eliminated the two Swiss teams, Kriens and
Lucerne, in Monday's semifinals.
