Masked attackers attack teenage fans of Dynamo Dresden in Weida!

Masked attackers attack teenage fans of Dynamo Dresden in Weida!

In Weida, Thuringia, the friendly match between Dynamo Dresden and FC Thüringen Weida on Friday evening was overshadowed by a shocking incident. While the statistics for Dynamo Dresden were extremely positive with a clear 7-0 win, two young supporters of the club, 16 and 17 years old, were the victims of an attack. Around seven to eight masked attackers attacked them on Wiesenstrasse, with one of the young people being hit in the face. The perpetrators violently demanded fan paraphernalia, including a Dynamo Dresden scarf, and then fled towards Theodor-Körner-Straße. The police have then initiated investigations against unknown persons and are calling on witnesses to contact the Greiz police station by telephone on 036616210. Violence among fans is considered unacceptable, both in and outside the stadium Image emphasized.

Unfortunately, the dark side of being a fan is not uncommon. It is not just since this incident that there have been repeated reports of violent clashes among football supporters. This is also reflected in the indictment against a 20-year-old German, which was filed by the Dresden public prosecutor's office. He is accused of several serious crimes, including common robbery, grievous bodily harm in various cases and breach of the peace. The young man was already in custody and had serious incidents behind him, including attacks on fans of other clubs. The last incident took place in November 2023, where he attacked a group of Regensburg fans. The Dresden District Court will soon decide on the opening of the main proceedings, as Tag24 reports.

Fan violence in numbers

The discussion about violence in football is further fueled by current studies. According to a study by the Ifo Institute, which analyzed the impact of 4,500 games, immense damage of around 194 million euros has been caused by fan violence in recent years. This study comes to the conclusion that there were over 38,000 suspected cases of bodily harm in the first three leagues alone between 2011 and 2015. In the period around football games, the number of violent incidents increased by 21.5 percent compared to days without games. Helen Breit, from the fan initiative “Our Curve,” criticizes these numbers and calls for more detailed analysis, since football games are major events and higher numbers of crimes are to be expected. Despite these alarming reports, the DFL does not see a trend-related increase in violence, which was also supported by high turnover and low numbers of injuries to police officers during games last season, as [Augsburger Allgemeine](https://www.augsburger- Allgemeine.de/sport/fussball-studie-zur-freude-von-fussballfans-was-ein-millionen Schaden-aussagen-id61810606.html) summarizes.

In view of these events, it is clear that the issue of fan violence is becoming increasingly present not only in the stadiums, but also on the streets. For the safety of young fans, as was the case in the attack in Weida, continuing to combat violence is essential.