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The damage caused by Polish football fans to the Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center stadium will be compensated by the Polish Football Federation. Representatives of the neighboring country's federation apologized for their fans' behavior and promised to make amends after Friday's international friendly football match.
Poles vandalized stadium infrastructure
The Friday match was marked not only by a successful performance and victory of the Lithuanian national football team with a score of 2-0 against Poland, but also by the hooligan behavior of the away fans.
Guests from Poland in their designated section clashed with police officers and vandalized the infrastructure of the Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center stadium. "Such fan behavior is unjustifiable," said Agniezska Olejkowska, a representative of the Polish Football Federation, to the press after the match on Friday.
It was reported that 251 plastic seats were broken, eight concrete slabs torn from the ground, and 22 iron railings removed from the stands. Also, advertising boards were bent, gates damaged, running tracks burnt in three spots, and merchandise stalls vandalized.
LFF President Liutauras Varanavičius pointed out that the concrete slabs in the stadium have long posed a danger and should be replaced.
"Such constructions cannot be in a football stadium. We have repeatedly approached the Kaunas city authorities about this, a work group was formed, and a project for replacing the slabs was prepared. However, the funds were allocated only for the preparation of a light athletics championship, so the city authorities decided not to carry out these works," said the LFF leader.
Thanked law enforcement for their work
The losses suffered by the Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center will be assessed monetarily at the beginning of the week. According to LFF President Liutauras Varanavičius, the Polish Football Federation has promised to compensate for the damage.
The LFF president emphasized that considering the hooligan behavior of the Polish fans, the police officers who worked during the match on Friday did so very professionally.
"The match was well prepared – an action plan was drawn up in advance, pre-checks were carried out. Fans were not able to bring any weapons or sticks into the stadium. During the match, no spectator ran onto the pitch, and the match proceeded without interruptions. I believe everything possible was done," said Varanavičius.
Before the upcoming match with the Spaniards at the Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center stadium, which is planned for Tuesday, the main damages caused by the Polish fans will be repaired, new seats will be installed to replace the broken ones.
The Lithuanian national team will face the Spanish national team on March 29th, with the match starting at 9:45 PM.
