© E. Žaldario
On Sunday, Lithuanian football witnessed a historic event - the renovated Darius and Girenas Stadium in Kaunas opened, which accommodates 15,000 fans.
The stadium opened with the LFF Cup final, which also featured music stars who performed during the halftime and after the match.
However, after the final, there were complaints from fans about the organization of the event. According to one fan, the turnstiles at the entrance to the stadium were not working well, causing long waits both to enter the stadium and to buy drinks.
The issue was also addressed by the Vilnius "Zalgiris" fan group Southern IV, who actively supported their beloved team throughout the final.
"We want to talk a little about what happened in Kaunas yesterday. There is a lot of dissatisfaction circulating in the public arena about yesterday's event. In our opinion - all the criticism is very justified. First of all, the organization of the event was tragic," - began the "Zalgiris" fans on their Facebook platform.
"Entering the stadium took almost 40 minutes. Lines, crowds, malfunctioning ticket scanners, stuck turnstiles, and confused staff - as we see, not only those who came to support Zalgiris experienced this chaos. It was because of these crowds that we failed to implement visual support before the match. A major minus for the organizers.
One of us helped carry a person in a wheelchair into the stadium because otherwise he would not have been able to enter. It seems that this was not thought of at all. The only question is - how is this possible? Think about how many people would be injured or even killed if everyone had to evacuate quickly from such a packed stadium? Crowded gates, narrow passageways in the stands - how many people would be squeezed if panic broke out?
As if that weren't enough, the organizers apparently completely misunderstood what football matches are and the specific nature of spectatorship. Therefore, all "Zalgiris" fans - including passive ones, were assigned one corner of the stadium. Without the efforts of the active fans, commercial activity would have continued in our stands until all tickets were sold, and half of our people would not have been able to enter the stadium.
Fortunately, we managed to reserve a portion of the tickets and everyone who wanted to enter the stadium got in. However, we found a bunch of people sitting and not willing to actively support the team in the stands. The logic is simple: some want to be active, sing, dance, and wave flags. Others want to sit quietly and watch the football game. And everything is fine until there is separation. The problem arises when a person, who bought a ticket, sits in their place but active support is required there," - said Southern IV.
According to the Lithuanian champions' fan group, three positive things were at the stadium yesterday: "Zalgiris" victory, the roof, and the Southern IV themselves.
"We want to end this article with thanks to the people of Kaunas for joining in solidarity with Slava Ukraini. While we are here discussing our problems, our sisters and brothers in Ukraine are still fighting for their freedom. We must support them and we are glad that the whole stadium supported them yesterday," - Southern IV also thanked the people of Kaunas.
"Zalgiris' won the final 2:1 after extra time, beating the "Hegelmann" footballers from Kaunas district.
