Five fans have been banned from all Swiss football stadiums for two to five years for their involvement in trouble which forced Sunday's match between Lucerne and Grasshopper Zurich to be called off.
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Towards the end of the Swiss League match, several dozen angry Grasshopper supporters threatened to storm the pitch after their team fell 4-0 behind to Lucerne. The defeat sealed the relegation of the 27-times Swiss champions from the top division and ended an unbroken 68 years in the top league.
The supporters demanded that Grasshopper players hand over their football shirts and socks as they said they were not worthy of wearing them. Some shirts were given to the angry fans following talks with club officials.
The Swiss Football League (SFL) said in a statementExternal link that two supporters who attacked a Grasshopper player had been banned together with three others who entered the pitch. It said that in all 57 offenders had been identified and all would eventually be sanctioned.
“Particularly shocking was the physical and verbal attack against a dark-skinned player,” said SFL chief executive Claudius Schaeffer in the statement. “We must all act together vehemently against racist thinking and any kind of discrimination.”
The stadium bans will apply immediately for all football and ice hockey matches in the top two Swiss leagues.
It was the second such incident involving Grasshopper supporters in two months, but Swiss football in general has been plagued by fan violence in recent years.
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