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Reuters Sports 

Coupe de l'UEFA: émeutes des supporteurs de l'Etoile Rouge

Fri October 1, 2004 7:44 AM CEST

BELGRADE (Reuters) - De nombreuses personnes ont été blessées jeudi soir dans des affrontements entre des supporteurs de l'Etoile Rouge de Belgrade et la police anti-émeutes, après l'élimination du club serbe contre St-Petersbourg au premier tour de la coupe de l'UEFA, rapporte la radio locale B 92.

Des échauffourées ont éclaté dans et en dehors du stade Marakana après que des supporteurs en colère eurent exigé la démission du président Dragan Dzajic.

La police a utilisé des gaz lacrymogènes pour disperser la foule.

L'Etoile rouge, également décevante dans son championnat, a perdu 2-1 jeudi après s'être déjà incliné 4-0 en Russie lors du match aller.

Dozens injured, arrested in Serbia riot

Associated Press

10/1/2004

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - A dozen angry Red Star fans were injured and 12 more were arrested after clashes with police following the Serbian champions' elimination from the UEFA Cup, police said Friday.

Police used batons and tear gas to disperse the rock-hurling crowds Thursday night after Red Star lost 1-2 at home against Zenit St. Petersburg in the second leg of the UEFA Cup first round, dropping out of the competition 6-1 on 1-6 aggregate.

Three policemen were slightly injured in the clashes as several thousand Red Star fans tried to burst into the team's administrative premises following the match. Some 600 policemen in riot gear defended the building.

Red Star, which won the European Champions' Cup in 1991, failed in August to qualify for the Champions League after going down to PSV Eindhoven on a 3-7 aggregate, prompting coach Ljupko Petrovic to resign last month. He was replaced by Ratko Dostanic, a former Slavia Sofia coach.

Petrovic took over Red Star from Slavoljub Muslin, who quit after falling out with the team managers over the sale of some prominent players this summer.

The fan protests were centered against Dragan Dzajic, a Serbian soccer legend and longtime president of the country's most popular club. The fans consider Dzajic responsible for the sale of Red Star players to foreign clubs.

Friday, October 1, 2004

Violence errupts after Red Star defeat

BELGRADE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Serbia and Montenegro champions Red Star Belgrade face their biggest crisis in 13 years after a 6-1 UEFA Cup first round aggregate defeat by Zenit St. Petersburg.

A 2-1 home loss in the second leg on Thursday night sparked fierce fighting between riot police and fans, who screamed for the resignation of managing director and president Dragan Dzajic and other club officials.

On Friday Dzajic obliged as fans tried to come to terms with recent events.

Fourteen people, including three police officers, were injured when fighting broke out in and outside the Marakana stadium following the team's defeat by the Russian side.

The gloomy atmosphere surrounding the troubled club in recent weeks could not be in starker contrast with the jubilation after winning the European Cup in 1991 when fans and officials rejoiced together.

'Most of them still live in the past thinking you can throw dust into people's eyes with past glory. We need radical changes to rekindle those days because we're going nowhere at the moment,' a disillusioned fan said.

That, however, is easier said than done in a country crippled by a decade of bloody Balkan wars, international isolation and economic mismanagement of the 1990s.

Soccer was no exception to galloping poverty and Red Star, like all other clubs, were forced to sell their best players season after season to stay afloat as crowds and revenues dropped dramatically.

Dzajic had high hopes the club would finally qualify for the Champions League group stage after Ljupko Pterovic, who guided the club to success in 1991, took over for his third spell in charge during the summer break.

Those hopes were dashed with a 7-3 aggregate drubbing by PSV Eindhoven in the third qualifying round and Petrovic resigned after the 4-0 UEFA Cup first round first leg defeat to Zenit.

The result prompted Dzajic, also a leading figure in the club's 1991 structure, to admit that building a new side would take time and effort.

'Nothing can be achieved overnight and it will take a lot of hard work and patience to build a quality team from these talented young players in our ranks,' he said.

Red Star then won three league matches in a row under caretaker manager Milovan Rajevac and new coach Ratko Dostanic, but angry fans still turned up with anti-management banners.

The bubble burst on Thursday night as many of the 20,000 who turned up left shortly after halftime and those who stayed roared at Dzajic and others in the VIP box to quit.