Football match cancelled due to fan violence
Murska Sobota, 18 February - The country's premiere league match in which Maribor led 2:0 against Mura in Murska Sobota on Sunday was suspended in the 58th minute as Maribor's Viola fans threw pyrotechnics on and by the pitch. A strong explosion went off where Mura players were warming up, injuring five Mura players and staff. Some needed medical attention.
Maribor
Maribor fans.
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
File photo
After the incident, the referees sent both teams to the changing rooms.
It first seemed that the match would continue if the visiting fans from Maribor left the stadium. Since this did not happen, the match did not resume.
A disciplinary commission will now decide on the outcome of the match, whether it is played again or not.
The news portal 24ur said the presidents of both clubs, Mura's Robert Kuzmič and Maribor's Bojan Ban, gave a news conference after the incident.
Kuzmič was deeply shocked at it, while Ban apologised on behalf of Maribor.
Players Tilen Ščernjavič and Niko Kasalo were injured the most severely, both have also their hearing severely affected, with one of them sustaining burns. According to early information, they will be absent at least six weeks.