(ANSA-AFP) - ZAGREB, APR 4 - More than 50 people were
arrested and 17 police officers injured when football fans
clashed with authorities after a match in Croatia's coastal town
of Split, officials said Thursday. The violence kicked off late
Wednesday when fans of Hajduk Split rushed the field following
their team's 0-1 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the national cup
semi-finals. Members of Hajduk Split's ultra fan base, known as
the Torcida, were trying to attack the visiting team and its
supporters when they clashed with security at the stadium, a
police statement said. After being pushed back into the stands,
where the fans were ripping off the seats and throwing them
along with flares at the officers, violence later spilled in the
streets surrounding the stadium. "Large groups of people on
several occasions attacked police throwing flares, bottles,
stones and other objects at them", the statement said. Seventeen
officers were injured, mostly by objects thrown at them, and
three were hospitalised, one with serious injuries, the
statement said. One police vehicle was also damaged and 54
people were arrested, and firefighters were called to the scene
to extinguish several blazes started in nearby dumpsters. The
violence was condemned by officials including Prime Minister
Andrej Plenkovic, who said there was no "place for violence in
sports". "We will continue to strongly resist such phenomena,"
he said at the government's weekly cabinet meeting. Split's
mayor, Ivica Puljak, regretted "such unpleasant scenes".
(ANSA-AFP).
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