79 injured after East German duel between Jena and Chemie Leipzig

After the regional league match between FC Carl Zeiss Jena and BSG Chemie Leipzig, violent riots broke out and a total of 79 people were injured. According to the police on Saturday evening, 10 emergency personnel, 5 stewards and 64 spectators from Jena and Leipzig were injured.

Jena won the match 5:0 in front of 7,224 spectators, including 1,084 Chemie supporters. The match was considered a high-risk game because the ultra-groups have been enemies for years. The clubs initially had no reaction to the incidents.

Around 350 home fans had already marched through the city unannounced before the game. The march, from which pyrotechnics were set off several times, was "stopped by the police using physical force, batons and irritant gas".

Gates to the stands broken open

Pyrotechnics were then repeatedly set off during the Regionalliga match. After the final whistle, Leipzig fans threw fireworks in the direction of the Jena supporters. "This prompted both active fan camps to forcibly open two buffer gates behind the south stand. As a result, there was a brief, uncontrolled clash between the two fan camps with disinhibited violence," the Jena state police inspectorate announced on

"The situation could only be stopped by the police forces who intervened with the use of irritant gas and the baton," it continued. According to a report in the "Ostthüringer Zeitung", which referred to people present, uninvolved spectators were also injured by pepper spray. There was massive damage to property and a total of 40 criminal and administrative offenses were reported.