Goal.com Weekend Special: Worst Football Riots - Part II

The incidents are no particular order. You can check the first part here.

11. Vasco da Gama v Sao Caetano 2000 (Brazil)

During the final of the 2000 Copa Joao Havelange between Vasco da Gama and Sao Caetano at the Estadio Sao Januario in Rio de Janeiro, fighting between rival supporters started. This led to the collapse of a fence and 60 injuries.

12. Dinamo Zagreb v Red Star Belgrade 1990 (Croatia)

On May 13,1990 Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb hosted former Yugoslav and now Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade at the Maksimir Stadium. Football hooliganism was already quite prominent in Croatia at the time. Over 3000 Red Star supporters had traveled for the match and before it began, a number of small fights broke out. Fighting lasted for over an hour in spite of the arrival of police with water cannons. Hundreds of people were injured.

13. PSG v Hapoel Tel Aviv 2006 (France)

French club PSG and Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv clashed with each other at the Parc des Prince in the UEFA Cup on November 24,2006. Hapoel won 4-2 but violence ensued after the match. PSG supporters chased a French fan of the Israeli club and kept on shouting racist slogans.

A police officer tried to protect the Hapoel fan and amidst the volatile and confusing situation one fan was shot dead and another was seriously injured. The entire incident led to intense discussion among authorities on how to curb racism and violence in French football.

14. Scouts Club v Fire Brigade 1999 (Mauritius)

This was not a on-pitch or inside-stadium violence but it was ghastly nevertheless. After a match between Fire Brigade and league champions Scouts Club in May 1999 in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, seven people were burned to death after rioters threw petrol bombs in a casino. Scouts fans couldn't take in the defeat and went on a rioting-spree, torched sugar cane fields and attacked police vehicles.

15. AS Roma v Lazio 2004 (Italy)

The Rome derby is one of the most volatile and hotly contested derbies in the world, both on the pitch and off it, and in March 2004 there was yet another reason for people to get even more intimidated by it.

Two minutes into the second half of the march and flares were thrown onto the pitch, and before long the entire stadium was wrapped up in heavy smoke that made play impossible. Both Roma and Lazio fans wanted the match to be abandoned as they alleged that child had run been down over by a police vehicle outside the stadium, an accusation that the police vehemently denied.

Moments later three Roma 'ultras' from the 'curva sud' came onto the pitch and 'talked' to club captain Francesco Totti after which Totti was heard shouting at his then coach Fabio Capello, "If we play on now, they'll kill us".

The match was subsequently abandoned and by the end of the night there had been injuries to 60 policemen and 15 fans; 36 fans were either arrested or summoned. Perhaps this is not one of the worst incidents of fan violence but is a vivid illustration of how much power the 'ultras' have in the game.

16. Salernitana v Piacenza 1999 (Italy)

On May 24, 1999 southern Italian club Salernitana traveled to northern Italian club Piacenza in search of a victory that would keep them in the Serie A. They suffered a defeat and consequently suffered relegation to the Serie B and the 1,500 disappointed Salernitana fans were provided a 'special train' to return back south.

The special train became 'special' for violence as the Salernitana supporters wrecked the train and constructed havoc during the journey. They threw stones at people on the platform at every stops and fought with the 12 policemen on board (half of those policemen were young females).

When the train was passing through a tunnel, some fans lit up a fire in order to escape from the train and subsequently escape arrest in Salerno. An entire carriage was burnt down and four died because of severe burns.

17. Atletico Madrid v Real Sociedad 1998 (Spain)

Prior to a UEFA Cup tie between Spanish sides Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in 1998 in Madrid, Sociedad fan Aitor Zabaleta was stabbed in his heart by an Atleti 'ultra'. It was in the month of December and the occasion was the UEFA Cup third-round, second-leg match in the Spanish capital. Shortly before the match, 28-year-old Zabaleta was chased by right-wing Atletico supporters and stabbed in his chest. Zabaleta was rushed to the hospital but passed away nine hours later.

18. Panathinaikos v Olympiacos 2007 (Greece)

On March 29, 2007 hooligans of Panathinaikos and Olympiacos fought against each other. 500 fans were involved and the violence was so intense that in April 2007 all sports stadiums in Greece were closed down for two weeks.

19. SD Compostela v Deportivo la Coruna 2003 (Spain)

Deportivo la Coruna defeated SD Compostela 1-0 in the King Cup's at the Santiago Compostela in October 2003 and it was supposed to be an occasion of celebration for Depor supporters. But for Manuel Rios Suarez it was anything but, as he lost his life because of injuries sustained in violence. He was 31 years of age and his death came as a huge shock to Spain, leading the country's top sports daily Marca to lament, "what should have been a night of celebration was converted into a grim spectacle because of savage aggression and the actions of a madman at Castalia."

20. IFK Goteborg 1970 (Sweden)

At the end of a match in 1970 that saw IFK Goteborg suffer relegation from the Allsvenskan, supporters of the Swedish club invaded the pitch, destroyed the goalposts and fought with the police. The match is significant for the fact that this is supposed to be one of the major incidents of hooliganism in Sweden at the time.

Do you think we have missed a major rioting incident in football? Do you know of a football riot that you think we should have featured here? Goal.com wants to know what you think.

Subhankar Mondal