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Tottenham beat Partizan Belgrade after suspension for pitch invasions Tottenham face Uefa inquiry after pitch invasions against Partizan Belgrade
(about 1 hour later)
Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League victory against Partizan Belgrade was marred by three pitch invasions that led to the match being suspended during the first half on Thursday night. Tottenham Hotspur are likely to face a Uefa investigation after their Europa League match against Partizan Belgrade was suspended four minutes before half-time after a succession of one-man pitch invasions.
In extraordinary scenes at White Hart Lane, Yevhen Aranovsky took the players off for nine minutes while order was restored after the succession of intruders, two of whom had posed for photographs with home players, had been caught and ejected from the turf by security staff. The three intruders entered the pitch separately in the 22nd, 26th and 41st minutes of the game, which Tottenham won 1-0 to qualify for the last 32 of the competition, with two attempting to take photographs alongside home players before security guards ejected them. The latter two were stopped in their tracks by Roberto Soldado and Mousa Dembélé respectively and the Tottenham pair may face repercussions for involving themselves in the fiasco.
A second-half goal by the French midfielder Benjamin Stambouli was enough to give Tottenham a win that takes them into the last 32. Upon the third interruption the Ukrainian referee, Yevhen Aranovsky, led the players from the pitch and the match was suspended for nine minutes. The remainder of the game passed without off-pitch incident but as further details emerged it became clear that the situation was more complex than one involving over-enthusiastic supporters.
The disturbances began in the 22nd minute of a game that had seen Tottenham start slowly against their Serbian opponents. During a break in play, the first pitch invader ran on to the arena and initially appeared content to take a photograph with the home defender Kyle Naughton. Undeterred by the attentions of security staff, he then posed for a picture with Jan Vertonghen before proceeding to evade his pursuers, now growing in number, for a full minute before being wrestled to the ground. The three pitch invaders were arrested and said to be assisting police with their inquiries. All were wearing T-shirts bearing the name of BassBuds, a headphone manufacturer associated with Spurs and six other English clubs. Tottenham called their relationship with the company a “licensed merchandise deal” rather than an official club partner and have withdrawn its products from club channels until a police investigation is concluded.
Within five minutes of play resuming, another interloper made for the Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado. The Spaniard took matters into his own hands and pulled the supporter’s shirt from his body before security staff prevailed again, this time after a briefer chase than the first. BassBuds issued a statement via its Facebook page, which read: “We have been made aware of an incident at the Tottenham game tonight. We are appalled that the game was interrupted in this manner. We do not condone the interruption of any sporting fixture in this way.”
The third interruption, and the one that could lead to consequences for Tottenham, came four minutes before half-time. This time the pitch invader ran towards Mousa Dembélé, who dragged him on to the ground before help arrived. The company may, though, be opening itself up to scrutiny after a tweet earlier in the day had encouraged punters to visit a site called TrollStation, with “Hottest pranks coming out of the UK”. TrollStation had tweeted in the morning: “Tonight expect a mad one.”
At this point, the Ukrainian official Aranovsky, presumably acting according to instructions, signalled that the match would be suspended and took the players down the tunnel. A nine-minute break ensued, during which time supporters were reminded not to enter the field of play by the PA announcer. Tottenham, who apologised to supporters for “the disruptions caused by this totally unacceptable behaviour”, later disclosed that four tickets under the same booking linked to the pitch invaders had been traced, and suggested the event had been planned. They could not comment on suggestions that the three incursions, which all came from home areas of the stadium had been co-ordinated by somebody present in the away section.
While the match restarted and passed without further incident, Tottenham may brace themselves for repercussions if, as seems likely, Uefa looks to investigate further. Early impressions were that the invasions combined to form an elaborate public relations stunt. All three supporters appeared to be wearing shirts bearing the name of Tottenham’s official headphone supplier, though there is no suggestion the club were in on the incident. There were further suggestions that the disruption had been co-ordinated by mobile telephone from the visiting supporters’ section, with the intruders sitting in home-only areas. The reaction of the club’s security staff, which appeared particularly tentative on the first interruption – when the pitch invader evaded pursuers for more than a minute – may come under question, although Tottenham stressed that personnel are trained not to swarm the pitch en masse and inflame situations. Regardless, there will be more bafflement at the fact that the same lapses of security appeared to occur three times, particularly in a high-security top-flight stadium.
Either way, there will be legitimate questions asked of how, in a high-security environment, the same lapses appeared to occur three times. Equally serious may be the repercussions felt by two of their players. Soldado pulled the second intruder’s shirt from his body and Dembélé sent the third tumbling by tripping him. This may be viewed as violent conduct by Uefa, with players advised not to get involved where the public encroach on the playing surface.