PRAGUE (AP) 鈥� Slavia Prague faces stiff punishment after its fans invaded the pitch during stoppage time in a derby match against Sparta in the Czech league on Saturday night.
The disciplinary committee of the League Football Association that oversees professional soccer in the country said after an extraordinary meeting on Sunday that 鈥渟uch behavior will not be tolerated in professional football.鈥�
Slavia’s punishment could be announced on Tuesday, it said. It could include forfeiting the match, banning of fans from the stadium and a fine.
The committee also opened proceedings against Sparta after their fans used pyrotechnics and damaged the stadium.
Hundreds of Slavia fans, many brandishing flares, stormed the pitch in the 97th minute and attacked several Sparta players, including Slovak goalkeeper Jakub Surov膷铆k, defender Jakub Martinec and forward Maty谩拧 Vojta.
At the time, Slavia was leading 3-2 and was on course to defend the Czech title with just minutes remaining and three games to go.
However, the match was abandoned.
Slavia chief executive Jaroslav Tvrd铆k called the fans’ behavior 鈥渦nacceptable and deplorable.鈥�
鈥淭he values of Slavia are not hatred and violence,鈥� Tvrd铆k said. 鈥淲e accept responsibility and draw consequences.鈥�
He apologized and said the club will cooperate with the association and police.
Sparta said events on Saturday were not 鈥渁n isolated excess” but rather “the culmination of an atmosphere of hatred towards our club.鈥�
Czech Soccer Association head David Trunda said the incident was damaging to “Czech football, the clubs and the overwhelming majority of decent fans.鈥�
Tvrd铆k announced Sunday that Slavia would close its North Stand, which hosts die-hard fans, with immediate effect. The stand will be closed until all the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice, Tvrd铆k added, while Slavia will work on measures to prevent such incidents in the future 鈥漞ven if that means closing the North Stand for the entire 2026-’27 season.鈥�
The perpetrators will be banned from Slavia’s stadium for life.
The two Slavia players who were shown red cards during the derby 鈥� league leading scorer Tom谩拧 Chor媒 and defender David Doud臎ra 鈥� were suspended for the rest of the season, Tvrd铆k said. The club later transfer-listed the pair.
Both are members of the national team that has qualified for the forthcoming for the first time in 20 years.
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