Hooligan attack

Wild fan brawl before England’s match against Serbia

The police had to arrest numerous hooligans.(Bild: AP, x, krone.at-grafik)

Wild brawling scenes took place in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday immediately before the high-risk match between England and Serbia at the European Championships. The hooligans attacked each other with fists, chairs and batons.

It is a video of horror (see also above) that is doing the rounds on the internet: fists and plastic chairs fly in front of a steakhouse in the old town of Gelsenkirchen. An English fan films the brawl and says: "It's the Serbs."

(Bild: AP, x, krone.at-grafik)

Another video shows men brutally beating other fans with batons. Some were already lying on the ground, but they continued to attack them.

English hooligans
The police confirmed the clashes between two large groups of people and several arrests. English hooligans had attacked Serbian fans, according to the police. 

The British newspaper "Guardian" reported that an English fan and a German police officer had been wounded in the head. According to further media reports, fans were also taken into custody. The police were initially unable to confirm either. 

Large police force
At around 5 p.m., the police finally brought the situation under control with a large contingent. In order to prevent further clashes, they escorted around 50 Serbian problem fans to the station and put them on the train to the Schalke Arena.

The Gelsenkirchen police had previously reported that they were planning to deploy significantly more officers for the European Championship match, which was considered a high-risk game, than for a Schalke derby against Dortmund.