Prague, Nov 9 (CTK) – The Prague police detained a group of fans of the Sigma Olomouc club, playing in the Czech first football league, on Saturday, for having assaulted a man, 36, from West Africa, over the colour of his skin, server Aktualne.cz said on Thursday.
The man, who has been living in Prague for ten years, had to be treated in hospital.
The fans got on a tram in which the man was sitting in the Prague centre.
At first, they were attacking him verbally, throwing lemons at him. They eventually beat him with fists, pushed him to the ground and kicked him.
The attacked man complains that no one from the tram helped him and he had to use the emergency button and ask its driver to call in the emergency staff and police.
After he was treated in hospital, the police drove him to a local police station where they showed him the video recordings of the fans from the match that was being held.
The man said “I recognised about seven of them and the police detained them during the match.”
He said most of the passengers in the tram had refused his plea for testimony.
“All the detained men ended up at the police station. Now detectives are working on the case over the suspicion of defamation of race, breach of the peace and bodily harm,” police spokesman Jan Danek said.
The football club SK Sigma Olomouc has distanced itself from the behaviour of the assailants.
Its representatives said they only had information on the event from the media.
“Still, we sharply denounce such a conduct. We do not consider the individuals who are guilty of this any fans of SK Sigma Olomouc and they are not welcomed at our stadium. Those behaving so are not fans of SK Sigma!” the club said in its press release, adding that it was ready to cooperate with the police.
