Unit 10: At the stadium

FC Basel and FC Zürich were practically neck and neck for the entire 2005-2006 Swiss Super League season. It all came down to a last match between the two competing teams on the 13th of May in Basel. The situation was that Basel needed to win at least one point to be Swiss champions, so a draw would have been sufficient. FC Zürich, on the other hand, required a win to top Basel.

The game itself was fought fiercely with many fouls on both sides. In the 90th minute the score was 1-1 which would have meant that Basel would have been champion by two points. The Basel fans and officials were already celebrating and preparing for the victory celebration. The next two minutes Basel were playing defensively and keeping the ball out of their half of the pitch. In the 93rd minute Zürich were awarded a throw-in. The ball was thrown to the right flank of the field where midfielder Florian Stahel crossed the ball into the penalty area. The Basel defence failed to remove the ball from their penalty area where it reached FC Zürich defender Iulian Filipescu who shot the ball around then Basel goalie Pascal Zuberbühler into the left corner of the goal. Referee Massimo Busacca ended the match after the goal and Zürich was champion.

The Zürich players immediately started celebrating with their team officials. About 30 seconds after the final whistle had been blown, dozens of attendees of the match who supported Basel stormed the pitch. These hooligans started attacking the Zürich players and officials who tried to flee into the changing rooms. Iulian Filipescu was attacked numerous times. A flare was also thrown at him, but it narrowly missed its target. On the other side of the pitch the small group of FC Zürich fans which travelled to Basel started celebrating with their players whilst police built a human wall on the center line preventing the hooligans from advancing any further. The supporters of FC Zürich also stepped on to the field illegally. Whilst celebrating with his fans, Filipescu was attacked again by Basel hooligans. He and his team-mate Alhassane Keita furiously kicked the attackers out of their vicinity before the police detained them. The victory ceremony was held on the stands instead of on the field because of the hooligans, who were still clashing with the police, who in turn were starting to outnumber the vandals.

The fighting didn't end immediately after the match. Battles were being held between hooligans and police outside of the stadium until late into the night.