Nine injured as Hungarian, Austrian football fans clash in Budapest

Nine soccer fans were injured - two seriously - in a fight during a Honved-Sturm Graz UEFA Cup qualifier match played in Budapest, MTI learnt on Sunday.

The fight started when fans of the Austrian team threw fire crackers into the field and security staff attempted to stop them. The fans ripped off seats and attacked the security guards, the Budapest police (BRFK) said.

The security service accompanying the Austrian fans, however, claimed that the Hungarian guards had been equipped with knives and used billiard balls wrapped in socks to hit people. Their spokesman Robert Rieger said he had suffered bruises when he was hit by a plastic seat. "The situation was very dangerous and the chaos was indescribable. The Hungarian guards grossly violated regulations," he said. Rieger also voiced complaint about the Hungarian police using tear gas against his colleagues.

BRFK's press officer told MTI that video recordings of the events proved that "it did not happen like that" and denied that tear gas was directed at Austrian security personnel. He added, however, that when gas is applied in dispersing crowds, it may affect all those present at the site, including policemen.

Hungarian and Austrian supporters had first clashed in central Budapest's Vorosmarty Square before the match on Saturday afternoon. Three Austrians were arrested for rowdy behaviour and they were released on Sunday morning.

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