UEFA Cup match in Bosnia marred by violence

Sports / Off the Field

UEFA Cup match in Bosnia marred by violence

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-07-20 09:47

BELGRADE, July 19 - Serious crowd trouble marred a UEFA Cup first
qualifying round match between Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar and Serbian
visitors Partizan Belgrade on Thursday.

Play was held up for 10 minutes early in the first half in Mostar after
rival fans clashed with riot police and security stewards while pelting
each other with flares and rocks.

Italian referee Andrea De Marco allowed the match to resume after police
quelled the violence and managed to create a buffer zone between the
8,000 home fans and some 1,000 visiting supporters.

Television images showed very few police and security officials in place
for what was declared a high-risk match, only the second meeting between
clubs from Bosnia and Serbia since the former Yugoslavia's bloody
break-up.

A hat-trick from former Zrinjski striker Lamine Diarra on his debut for
Partizan helped the Serbian side to a resounding 6-1 win ahead of the
return leg in Belgrade on August 2.

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