Football: Udine ultras stop the train of their rivals from Venice to ambush them, several injuries to be deplored

Les supporters d'Udine ont agi après la rencontre. MAXPPP – Ettore Griffoni/LiveMedia/ipa-

Plusieurs personnes ont été blessées et huit arrêtées à l'issue de ce guet-apens qui a lieu, samedi 1er février, en fin d'après-midi près de la gare de Basiliano. 

An ambush by Udinese ultras, who stopped the train carrying their rivals from Venice on Saturday after the Italian Championship match between the two teams, left several people injured near Udine (northeast), local police said on Sunday.

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Several people were injured and eight arrested following the ambush that took place late Saturday afternoon near the Basiliano train station, not far from Udine, Udine police said in a statement. Among the injured, whose number was not specified by local authorities, two were taken to hospital in Udine, without further details. The Italian press had indicated earlier that their life was not in danger. Three police officers were also injured during their intervention, the police added.

Throwing stones, sticks and batons

After their team's victory over Venice (3-2) on the 23rd day of Serie A, around fifty masked Udinese ultras ambushed Venice supporters who were returning by train to their city, 135 kilometres away. They forced the driver to stop his train with smoke bombs and by getting out onto the track. After throwing stones at the regional train carrying 300 Venice supporters as well as passengers, they hit their rivals with sticks and batons, who had got out onto the platforms.

The police have confirmed press reports that the Udinese ultras were accompanied by ultras from the Austrian club Salzburg. Among the eight people arrested for “blocking the railway, aggravated fighting, resisting police officers, using pyrotechnic devices and batons at sporting events”, five are Austrians and one is a resident of Austria.

Stadium bans

They will be banned from the stadium, local authorities have already announced. The intervention of the police, including a helicopter, quickly put an end to this pitched battle, “thus avoiding something worse for the Venice fans”, the police specified. The train traffic was able to resume after being stopped for more than an hour and the Venice fans were able to leave after being transferred to a new train.

The match was classified as high risk due to the incidents that had taken place after the first leg in Venice on October 30. Udinese fans had been attacked near the Venice train station before their return to Udine. During Saturday's match, Venice ultras unfurled a banner mocking their rivals and recalling their aggression.