Hajduk – Dinamo derby preceded by fan violence

Police detained more than 100 suspects in Split today as football fans clashed ahead of the Hajduk Dinamo match at Poljud Stadium. 

The derby had been declared a high-risk event, which led to a strong police presence in the city. The fight broke out Saturday morning in the city's Pujanke neighborhood. Police arrived quickly to break up the brawl. By the end of the day, police said they had swept up more than 160 people for fighting, pyrotechnics and disorderly conduct. Five people, including one police officer, were treated at the local hospital for their injuries.

"This morning, after 10, we received five patients within a relatively short time span. Four of them are football fans and one is a police officer. Most of the injuries are the result of trauma to the head and body from punching and kicking. One patient has a broken jaw and has been hospitalized,” said Dr. Tomislav Šušnjar, a doctor at Clinical Hospital Center Split.

"We were in the field and as you can see from the video recordings, very little time passed from the start of the incident to when officers arrived. Our quick response and the strong police presence at the scene, means that we were able to detain more than 100 people. We are still searching for the other participants,” said Clinical Hospital Center Split Antonela Lolić.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković commented on the fan violence during a visit to Vukovar.

"You saw that police responded with lightning speed. Clearly these are fights between football fans. I condemn it. It is very bad and has nothing to do with sports or Hajduk or Dinamo. It sets a terrible example for our youth. We've had these kinds of situations before with our football fans, at home and abroad, and it doesn't benefit our national team or the clubs. Therefore, I urge our youth not to follow this example,” said Plenković.