Vandalism, Football | Reports vandalism for up to NOK 100,000, and one was thrown a fence at: – The worst I’ve seen

On Sunday, Sandefjord Fotball lost 0-1 against Lillestrøm when the club inaugurated its new artificial grass at Jotun Arena. But there is something else that gives the club an aftertaste this week.

There were a number of unwanted incidents during the match, namely vandalism and violence. The list consists of, among other things, broken cisterns, broken breakwaters, clogged drains, damage to electrical items, broken kiosk goods and violence against a volunteer guard.

This happened at the Gokstad Apotek grandstand, where the visiting away fans had settled in. Both toilets, sinks and urinals were blocked, which created a water leak down the floors.

– This led to water damage to the kiosk on the floor below. A number of electrical items, such as a freezer, waffle iron and popcorn machine short-circuited. In addition to the damaged goods, says general manager Espen Bugge Pettersen.

One volunteer injured

In addition to the water damage and the broken kiosk goods, some seats were also destroyed. But it was an incident that the club takes extra seriously.

A volunteer guard had to go to the emergency room after a group of fans allegedly threw an aluminum fence at him.

– The person has been a volunteer with us for many years. Now the person in question is on sick leave from his civilian job, says Bugge Pettersen.

There will be physical damage of up to NOK 100,000, according to security manager Per Magnus Larsgård.

The relationship reported

– Some seats are broken from time to time, and the goods and the electrics can be fixed. But the fact that a volunteer guard is now on sick leave is not good, says Bugge Pettersen, who has to go back more than ten years to find a similar incident at the stadium.

Initially, the away fans should stand on the short side behind the one goal, but before Sunday’s game the LSK fans had run a campaign in social media. It consisted of buying tickets in the family stand, i.e. at one end of the Gokstad Akademi stand.

It created challenges for the guards at the start, when over a hundred fans wanted to enter.

– They simply cut the long side, and thundered in in droves. I don’t think we even checked the tickets for half of them, says Bugge Pettersen.

He believes that it is clear in Norwegian football that there is a development in so-called acting out behavior among fans, and calls the development very unfortunate.

Settle in

Security manager Per Magnus Larsgård says that around 100 visiting fans caused discomfort already on arrival.

– Organized fans started acting threatening already outside the entrance when the buses arrived. There were such large numbers of people that the police also just had to step aside and let them in. There was a lot of pushing even then, and another guard was pushed in the stomach, he says.

Larsgård tells of good planning around the security system around the match, but that they received little help from Lillestrøm, who are responsible for away supporters at away matches.

He also says that the fans had contacted the club a few weeks earlier with the wish to stand somewhere other than behind the goal, but that they were refused due to safety concerns.

– They clearly did not want to admit this.

He says that SF has sent this matter to both the NFF and LSK, and that they will report the matter to the police.

– This is the worst thing I have seen in my years as a security officer in SF, he says.

Makes a statement

On Tuesday, Sandefjords Blad was in contact with spokesperson Tony Johansen for Kanarifuglene, LSK’s independent supporters’ club, who says that they will make a statement, probably on Tuesday evening or Wednesday.

General manager Robert Lauritsen of Lillestrøm Sports Club tells Romerikes Blad that as a club they strongly distance themselves from vandalism.

In the football podcast “Dødball”, LSK supporter Christine Tovik, who was present in the stands, tells about what happened.

– When we try to get better places, it doesn’t help that people block urinals and such on purpose. It is actually inappropriate, says Tovik, reproduced by Romerikes Blad.

– It was LSK supporters who did it? asks presenter Morten Svesengen.

– Yes, I assume that it was not Sandefjord supporters who did it against their own club. It is nitrite. It is a few who destroy too many. I doubt that we will be allowed to stand there again, says Tovik in the podcast.