Fiery Toilet Paper Abruptly Ends Ajax V Groningen Game

We couldn’t so much as enter with an unopened bottle of water at a Los Angeles Dodgers’ game in Vero Beach, Fl last month, but for some reason, soccer fans in Holland (and basically everywhere else in the world) are allowed to smuggle flares, bottles, lighters, weapons and toilet paper with the ease. The repercussions of that were a fiery mess that left one patron severely burned, three others injured and 19 people treated for smoke inhalation. Sounds like normalcy among European soccer accounts–and a Primus concert.

So, what’s hindering European officials from instituting searches at their stadiums? Is it simply not the European way? We’re constantly reading about malevolent behavior from zealous fans, but nothing is ever done besides sanctioning stadiums with the infamous “behind closed doors” matches that never solve anything. Everyone loses, no one gains anything and the cycle resumes. Maybe a diligent search of the nether regions in the Netherlands would have diverted another spectacle of violence–and more fans across the world wouldn’t reenact the events like idiots. A clip of the fiasco below:

One more from a fan’s point of view:

Ajax Match Postponed After Fans Start Fires [Javno]
Image [Javno]
Videos [Youtube]