From the stands of Stadion Śląski, the clash between Ruch Chorzów and Górnik Zabrze was watched by more than 38,000 fans. The Great Derby of Silesia returned to the venue after 15 years, but the celebration turned into a demolition derby. You can read about what happened below.

Extensive damage

The toilets were vandalised, with doors, toilet cubicles, radiators and tiles ripped from the walls. The entrance to the server room in the visitors' sector was also broken and cables were ripped out as well as the equipment that makes up the server room. Fortunately, thanks to the efficient reaction of Stadion Śląski staff and the procedures followed, the match did not have to be interrupted despite the damage, reads a statement published by Stadion Śląski.

Special conference

Adam Strzyżewski, director of Stadion Śląski, and Seweryn Siemianowski, president of Ruch Chorzów, also addressed the damage in the visitors' sector on Monday. A representative of Górnik Zabrze was also invited to a press conference on the matter, but did not take up the invitation. Fans are keenly interested in the topic of damage to the stadium, especially as there were a very large number of 38,106 people in the stands.

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© P. Manowski

There will be consequences

Losses are being estimated, and Ruch Chorzów, 14-time Polish champion, point out that one thing is certain - these will be substantial sums. The club, as the organiser of a mass event, will expect them to be covered by the perpetrators. It is already known that the guest sector will be closed for at least three months. We need to make repairs. As Stadion Śląski, in this case, we demand sums from Ruch, because this is how the contract is constructed, and I suspect that Ruch on the basis of recourse will demand coverage of all losses from Górnik, said Adam Strzyżewski.

Who will pay for the damages?

The chairman of Ruch, on the other hand, stated that the losses would be paid by Górnik, because that is association law. Clubs are responsible for organised groups of fans. The damages already amount to several hundred thousand.

Differing opinions of the two clubs

On Monday, March 18, Górnik Zabrze, a club with great traditions, issued a statement saying that they should not be held responsible for the mass event organiser's lack of proper supervision. They also add that their security office did not participate in the protocol acceptance and handover of the guest sector, which is standard procedure. These accusations, however, were countered by Seweryn Siemianowski. He pointed out that the representative of the Zabrze club, Rafal Mitręga, had a site inspection before and after the match.

© freepik.com

Ruch fans caused less damage

Reference was also made to the damage caused by Ruch Chorzów fans. The club's president stated that this was insignificant compared to what took place in the visitors' sector. The director of Stadion Śląski added that these were only a few broken toilet seats. Other than that, we have not recorded any infrastructural damage, he pointed out.

Ruch's match against Górnik was the one with the largest number of fans at the stands, taking into account all matches of the 25th round of the Ekstraklasa. Here are the 5 matches with the highest attendance this round:

1. Ruch Chorzów - Górnik Zabrze | Attendance: 38,106 fans
2. Lech Poznań - Warta Poznań | Attendance: 23,361 fans
3. Legia Warszawa - Piast Gliwice | Attendance: 21,853 fans
4. Śląsk Wrocław - Puszcza Niepołomice | Attendance: 14,811 fans
5. Korona Kielce - Pogoń Szczecin | Attendance: 10,417 fans