Utrecht mayor seeks compensation from FC Porto fans over destroyed buses
The mayor of Utrecht, Sharon Dijksma, wants fans of the Portuguese football club FC Porto to pay compensation for the eight buses that were destroyed last week. The incidents occurred around the UEFA Europa League match between FC Utrecht and Porto.
Dijksma had already anticipated possible crowd trouble before the game, designating certain areas as safety risk zones after police received information suggesting that fans might clash and attack officers with heavy fireworks. This measure allowed police to carry out preventive searches in those areas.
“It is regrettable that a European home match of FC Utrecht has such an impact on the entire city and requires so much police deployment,” the mayor said.
A total of 76 Porto fans were arrested. Dijksma praised the efforts of the 400 police officers involved. “The police did an excellent job and prevented worse from happening,” she wrote, on behalf of the security council, in a letter to the city council.
The destruction of the buses occurred as Porto fans were being transported to the Galgenwaard Stadium. Fireworks were set off inside the vehicles, resulting in eight buses being heavily damaged. “Several buses suffered serious damage, and I can imagine how frightening that must have been for the drivers,” Dijksma said. She expressed her outrage to the bus company and plans to meet with the drivers in person.
Police confiscated around 20 kilograms of heavy fireworks. This included 14 explosive devices found at a man’s home in Zeist, and more than 20 nitrates discovered in a Porto fan’s car in Limburg.
Large quantities of fireworks were also found on trains used by Porto supporters, after fireworks had already been set off in Amsterdam’s city center.
The match itself ended 1–1, earning Utrecht its first point in European competition this season. The club’s next home game will be against the English side Nottingham Forest on December 11.
