Injured after firecracker explosion
Suspected Hoffenheim fans remain in custody
November 12, 2023, 9:37 a.m
Several spectators are injured when a firecracker explodes at the Bundesliga game in Augsburg. The police, the clubs and the referee provide information. Two men are in custody. The game between FCA and TSG Hoffenheim can be ended after an interruption.
After a firecracker exploded during FC Augsburg’s Bundesliga game against TSG Hoffenheim, the two suspects are still in police custody. The Bavarian police in Swabia confirmed this when asked. The number of injured people initially remained at eleven. There was no “life-threatening danger” to anyone, it said. It’s probably mainly about blast trauma.
The firecracker was thrown from the “guest block area” on Saturday during the 1-1 draw between FCA and Hoffenheim and exploded near the corner flag. The police did not provide any information about the injured people. According to information from the “Augsburger Allgemeine”, a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old girl are also said to be affected.
Two men were arrested during the game. They are “suspected of having been involved in the crime.” They were identified from video images of the incident, police confirmed. TSG sports director Alexander Rosen called the firecracker throw “unbelievable nonsense” after the game. FCA sporting director Marinko Jurendić demanded: “This has to be punished severely.” Most of the approximately 28,000 spectators, like the players on the pitch, were shocked.
Hoffenheim apologizes
Referee Felix Brych interrupted the game for around five minutes because of the incident in the 57th minute. It was then able to be completed without further incident. “I have never heard such a loud bang in a football stadium,” said Brych, who is also very experienced internationally. “I said clearly that if something like that happens again, we have to leave the field,” reported the 48-year-old.
The referee referred to the DFB’s so-called three-stage plan, which would have called for the game to be abandoned as the final reaction. As a first step, Brych gathered the players in the center circle to talk.
TSG Hoffenheim apologized in a statement on Saturday evening and announced that it would support the investigating authorities so that the crime could be fully investigated. “In our 16 years in the Bundesliga we are confronted with such an insane derailment for the first time,” it said. With its values, the TSG stands for peaceful coexistence.