The first European day at the home of the Basque elite teams, which had given rise to special security measures since three matches coincided at the same time, ended with arrests of Anderlecht ultras in Anoeta, without incident at San Mamés and with the intervention of the Ertzaintza. in the stands of the Fernando Buesa Arena pavilion in Vitoria. It is expected that the matches between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club -which participate in the men’s Europa League football- and Baskonia -Euroleague basketball- will take place simultaneously in January and that in November there will also be a day shared by the first two. .
The biggest problems took place in Donostia. Real Sociedad and Anderlecht, a club from a dormitory town in Brussels, were playing. 1,200 supporters arrived, including 300 considered ultras. In previous days, preventive measures had been adopted such as traffic reductions and even the anticipation of school closures. Ultimately, the incidents were concentrated inside the stadium. The radicals broke the methacrylate from their stands and threw chairs and other objects to the lower levels. The match, which ended in a defeat for the San Sebastian team, had to be suspended a few minutes after about 30 minutes of the first half.
Ertzaintza sources report the arrest of five people belonging to this group of Anderlecht supporters. The Mobile Brigade, the anti-riot unit, had to intervene itself in the stands to contain the situation. Three people were arrested for disturbing public order, one for assault against law enforcement officers and a fifth for damage and resistance. The home fans located under the visiting stands had to leave their seats and Anderlecht players Colin Coosemans and Theo Leoni tried to calm things down.
Late that night, the club released a statement of condemnation for what happened. “Real Sociedad strongly condemns yet another attack suffered by our supporters at our home and wishes to express its solidarity with all royalist supporters affected during this afternoon’s match against RSC Anderlecht. The club would like to inform you that it has requested a meeting with UEFA so that today’s events are the last that our supporters can experience,” the entity wrote. Early in the morning, according to police sources, four of these people remained in police stations waiting to be brought to justice.
In Bilbao, no incidents were reported. Athletic Club beat the Dutch AZ Alkmaar. On the contrary, there were some tense moments with Partizan Belgrade supporters during the Euroleague match played in Vitoria. Exceptionally, the citizen security units of the Basque police had to access the stands to remove the Serbian supporters. The sources consulted confirm the “expulsion” of one of them for having uttered insults on several occasions. The presence of private security guards was also very visible at the two locations where the visiting team’s supporters were concentrated. The match ended with a victory for Baskonia.
