Defeat for the city of Zurich in the fight against fan violence: the governor has ruled that the closure of the FCZ south curve in January 2024 was unlawful.
19.06.2025, 16:44
19.06.2025, 18:40
SDA
FCZ had appealed against the sector ban in the match against Lausanne-Sport and has now been vindicated. The club acknowledges the decision "with satisfaction", as it announced on Thursday. Collective punishments are unlawful in principle and should be rejected.
Instead of bans, FCZ prefers "a constant and constructive dialog with all parties involved". The City of Zurich has taken note of the decision. It will now examine it and then decide whether it will be referred to the next instance, it said at the request of Keystone-SDA.
FC Basel also intends to appeal
It is foreseeable that the Federal Supreme Court will one day have to deal with the legality of sector closures. FC Basel has also already announced that it will take legal action against this measure. YB and Servette, on the other hand, have accepted previous sector closures.
The Letzigrund sector ban in January 2024 was triggered by riots after an FCZ match against FCB. Around 100 FCZ fans attacked police officers at Altstetten station with smoke petards, fireworks and stones.
However, the South Curve ban did not make a lasting impression on the violent fans. Three months later, there was another riot, this time in Geneva. Several hundred FCZ fans attacked the private security service of the Stade de Genève as well as police officers. The Zurich fans threw metal rods, seats, firecrackers, pyrotechnics and gravel stones at the police.
FCZ emphasized in a statement at the time that it naturally condemned the violent behaviour of some of its fans in the strongest possible terms. However, it also sees the security forces as being partly to blame. The employees of the private security company in the stadium were "aggressive, uncooperative and unprofessional".
