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Goalkeeper struck during wild pitch invasion as match abandoned with team on brink of league title
The Prague derby between Slavia and Sparta was abandoned after a pitch invasion marred their Czech league title clash.
Slavia hosted their bitter city rivals on Saturday and were set to win the title as they led 3-2 in the final moments of the match.
With less than four minutes to play in stoppage time, a swarm of fans stormed the pitch in what appeared to be some early celebrations.
However, as hundreds took to the playing field with flares, the scenes turned ugly as the players ran to the tunnel for safety.
Sparta goalkeeper Jakub Surovcik appeared to be hit in the face by a cup of beer, and went down in apparent pain.
He was then helped back onto his feet as security officials rushed to contain the horde of Slavia supporters.
Czech FA statement
“The further fate of the unfinished match between Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague will be decided by the LFA Disciplinary Commission in accordance with the relevant regulations, which has convened an extraordinary meeting for Sunday morning.
“The case will be assessed on the basis of all relevant materials, in particular the match report, reports from delegated persons, and other available documents, including any possible sporting consequences arising from the relevant regulations.”
Sparta later announced on X that they left Fortuna Arena due to the security concerns.
“We cannot look for any mitigating circumstances for ourselves; our fans ran onto the pitch and objectively interrupted the match before its end,” Slavia chairman Jaroslav Tvrdik said.
“The opponent reported an assault on one or two players. I believe it is legitimate that the match was terminated.
“When I talked with our players, if something similar had happened to us at their place, we would have acted the same way. We can only apologize.
“We must respond to this in the future so that we simply do not repeat such situations. It is difficult.
“Three, four minutes separated us from championship celebrations; I believe the players would have handled it.
“Instead, this is probably the greatest disgrace I have experienced in eleven years at the club.
“I apologise to all the normal fans who stayed in the stands; I apologise to all the viewers in front of their screens. It is a disgrace; we must live with it.”
Live commentary on the league’s official website confirmed that the match was ‘ended prematurely’ as a result of the pitch invastion.
It also claimed that a couple of the Sparta players were injured, and that a forfeiture could be expected.
Slavia finished top of the Czech First League in the regular season on 71 points, with Sparta eight points behind them.
Both sides were joined by the rest of the top six in the Championship group in a format similar to that of the Scottish Premiership.
Slavia, who faced Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season, beat Slovan Liberec 2-1 in the first match to reach 74 points.
A win over their Prague rivals would have extended their lead to 11 points, handing them the title with three games to play.
However, due to the abandonment of the match, their wait to win back-to-back league crowns looks set to wait.
Should the match be forfeited as suggested earlier, Sparta could win the three points and reduce the gap to just five points.
Whoever finishes top automatically qualifies for the league phase of next season’s Champions League.
Second will enter in the third qualifying round, whilst third and fourth earn the Europa League and Conference League respectively.
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