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FOOTBALL

Football fans spark chaos in Stockholm final

Swedish football fans stormed the pitch on Sunday night after IFK Gothenburg beat Djurgården in the Swedish Cup final, in a violent victory march that saw at least one flare hurled into the crowd and that required police intervention.

Football fans spark chaos in Stockholm final

The final between IFK Gothenburg and Djurgården went to penalties before the Gothenburg side took home the victory at Stockholm’s Friends Arena. However, the club’s supporters didn’t waste any time in storming the pitch and antagonizing the Djurgården fans.

Armed with flares, the supporters took to the field and marched to the other end, where Djurgården supporters hurled chair parts towards the opposition and the police in between.

Only moments after a security guard was hit in the head by what appeared to be a part of a seat, a Gothenburg supporter threw a flare into the opposing side’s crowd.

Dozens of riot police stood between the two sets of supporters during the standoff. Police meanwhile grappled with some of the supporters, with three officers sustaining minor injuries.

“The scenes that took place when the pitch was invaded and what happened afterwards are completely unacceptable,” Djurgården’s head of security told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

“I can understand, to a degree, that the winning side wants to celebrate with its heroes when they’ve taken the title – that’s neither surprising nor strange and more of a rule than an exception. But this went way overboard.”

Video of the commotion

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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