Police meddle in sports again: Velež fans banned from derby with Zrinjski

(Patria) - The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton has banned the visiting fans 'Red Army' from attending the match between HŠK Zrinjski and FK Velež in order to preserve public order and peace and the safety of Mostar citizens.

Otherwise, this match has been declared a high-risk match.

''Considering the events in the recent period, the disruption of public order and peace on a larger scale caused by individuals from fan groups in the Mostar area, the Mostar Police Department, as the security provider for this match, has characterized it as an event of 'High Security Risk' in its security assessment. Through operational work and collected information, police officers of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Ministry of Internal Affairs have conducted a security assessment, based on which the decision to ban visiting fans from attending the city derby match between HŠK Zrinjski and FK Velež was made, all in order to preserve public order and peace and the safety of Mostar citizens'', stated the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton today.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Ljudevit Marić, previously told the media that the Mostar Police Department had conducted a security assessment on the ground before the match of the 26th round of the BiH Premier League at the Pod Bijelim brijegom stadium.

''Action will be taken 24 hours before the match, until the end of the match, or until the public order and peace security situation is brought under control'', said Marić.

He added that citizens can feel safe because the police will do their part. Although information had already emerged that Velež would be without the support of its fan group at the match, the final decision was made and signed only today.