Serious rioting broke out at a football cup match in Mannheim on Friday evening, with fans temporarily storming the pitch. According to its own account, police had to use "force" against supporters, deploying mounted officers among other measures. A total of 85 people required medical treatment, eight of whom had to be taken to hospital because of the severity of their injuries.
The match between SV Waldhof Mannheim and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, known as the "Southwest derby", had been rated as extremely volatile in advance. Police were on site with around 1,400 officers. As Mannheim police headquarters announced on Saturday morning, 33 federal police officers and two officers from Baden-Württemberg sustained minor injuries in the confrontations with fans. Among other things, they had been targeted "with pyrotechnic objects and rockets".
Several fans were arrested, according to the police. Investigations have been launched "for insults, various bodily harm offences, property damage, breach of the public peace, physical assault on police officers, and violations of the Explosives Act", Mannheim police headquarters stated.
Because of the violence and the fans' invasion of the field of play, the start of extra time had to be briefly postponed, although the fixture was ultimately able to continue. In the end, the visitors from Kaiserslautern won 1-0.
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