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The Copa del Rey offered the city duel between Real Betis and FC Sevilla. The treat came to an abrupt end on Saturday: the game was abandoned after 39 minutes. The game continued on Sunday, Betis won.
The Spanish Cup competition was hit by a real scandal.
Sevilla’s Joan Jordan was hit in the head by opposing fans with a flagpole.
The derby between Real Betis and Sevilla was initially interrupted and finally ended completely.
The sequel followed on Sunday, Betis Sevilla won 2-1.
Suddenly there was Sevilla’s Joan Jordan on the ground holding her head. What happened? When the fans of Betis Sevilla celebrated Nabil Fekir’s equalizer – nota bene, a corner kick converted directly – against their rival, one of them became abusive: a pole suddenly flew onto the field from the crowded ranks of the atmospheric Estadio Benito Villamarin – and hit Jordan full on Head. The footballer fell to the ground in pain.
The scandal was perfect. Although Jordan was fortunately not seriously injured, referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea, who quickly located the murder weapon, sent both teams into the dressing room. Around 45 minutes later, the game was finally stopped completely when the score was 1:1. An evening of spectacle ended in disaster.
After the demolition, Betis said: «Real Betis strongly condemns the throwing of the object. The club is working with the national police to identify the alleged perpetrator. Real Betis always had the intention to continue the game and hope to wrap it up as soon as possible.” On Sunday it was announced: The game will be continued. And already on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. – and in front of empty ranks. Betis then prevailed 2-1 (1-1) thanks to Sergio Canales’ goal in the 73rd minute and advanced to the quarter-finals.
Not the first scandal at the Seville derby
The fan scandal on Saturday evening caused great outrage in Spain: “An idiot ruins the derby”, headlined the specialist newspaper “Marca” on Sunday on page one. But it wasn’t just the one, previously unidentified, fan who caused trouble on Saturday.
When Jordán went down, some Betis supporters chanted at him and the visiting team for several minutes. While Betis players condemned the incident, they also tried to put it into perspective. They accused Sevilla FC coach Julen Lopetegui of calling on Jordán to “throw himself on the ground and feign dizziness”. The 27-year-old Jordán held his head on the ground for a moment, but quickly got up again. “It’s all the dark side of our football,” commented the specialist journal “AS”.
A Seville derby in the Betis stadium was canceled almost 15 years ago. Back then, on February 28, 2007, visiting coach Juande Ramos was hit in the head by a bottle thrown by a fan in the second leg of the cup. After all, a good omen for FC Sevilla: The “Reds” won the cup at the time.
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(sih/nih/dpa)