Slavia Prague faces sanctions for derby pitch invasion, attacks on Sparta players in Czech league

PRAGUE (AP) — Slavia Prague faces stiff punishment after its fans invaded the pitch during stoppage time in a derby match against Sparta in the Czech league on Saturday night. The disciplinary committee of the League Football Association that oversees professional soccer in the country said after an extraordinary meeting on Sunday that “such behavior will not be tolerated in professional football.” Slavia's punishment could be announced on Tuesday, it said. It could include forfeiting the match, banning of fans from the stadium and a fine. The committee also opened proceedings against Sparta after their fans used pyrotechnics and damaged the stadium. Hundreds of Slavia fans, many brandishing flares, stormed the pitch in the 97th minute and attacked several Sparta players, including Slovak goalkeeper Jakub Surovčík, defender Jakub Martinec and forward Matyáš Vojta. At the time, Slavia was leading 3-2 and was on course to defend the Czech title with just minutes remaining and three games to go. However, the match was abandoned. Slavia chief executive Jaroslav Tvrdík called the fans' behavior “unacceptable and deplorable.” “The values of Slavia are not hatred and violence,” Tvrdík said. “We accept responsibility and draw consequences.“ He apologized and said the club will cooperate with the association and police. Sparta said events on Saturday were not “an isolated excess" but rather "the culmination of an atmosphere of hatred towards our club.” Czech Soccer Association head David Trunda said the incident was damaging to "Czech football, the clubs and the overwhelming majority of decent fans.” Tvrdík announced Sunday that Slavia would close its North Stand, which hosts die-hard fans, with immediate effect. The stand will be closed until all the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice, Tvrdík added, while Slavia will work on measures to prevent such incidents in the future ”even if that means closing the North Stand for the entire 2026-'27 season.“ The perpetrators will be banned from Slavia's stadium for life. The two Slavia players who were shown red cards during the derby — league leading scorer Tomáš Chorý and defender David Douděra — were suspended for the rest of the season, Tvrdík said. The club later transfer-listed the pair. Both are members of the national team that has qualified for the forthcoming World Cup for the first time in 20 years. \\\_ AP soccer: