Bucharest clashes after Romania-Poland match: 105 taken to police, mostly Polish fans

The match and the wait outside

Romania beat Poland 2-1 on Saturday, 14 November, in the Nations League group B4 fixture at the National Arena in Bucharest. The win gave Romania its first points in the group, after a 6-0 defeat in Warsaw in October. Police information obtained by Polsat News says organisers told Polish supporters before the final whistle that they must stay in the away sector for 35 minutes, citing security. The Romanian gendarmerie links the trouble to the anger of fans over that wait as they tried to leave the stadium area.

“Tensions were generated by the dissatisfaction of Polish supporters with the waiting time before leaving the stadium area.”

Clashes outside the stadium

The gendarmerie says some fans used a fire extinguisher and threw pieces of metal fencing at officers, who then used irritant gas to restore order. Polsat News adds that fans threw barriers at Romanian gendarmes in front of the stadium, where officers in helmets, carrying shields and batons, had gathered in large numbers. HotNews.ro reported that around 01:30 on Sunday, 15 November, roughly two hours after the final whistle, gendarmes and fans were still clashing on the streets around the arena. The outlet described many fans as drunk and aggressive, and said officers at times seized supporters who were not the ultras they were looking for. In one scene it recounted, the wife of an attacked fan stepped between him and the officers, and a gendarme shouted that it was not him but someone else.

Detentions and the official count

Romanian gendarmerie and ministry figures put the number taken to police at 105, of whom five were Romanian nationals. Of these, 74 people are under investigation under article 32 of Law 4/2004 for violent opposition to order forces, one is under investigation under article 37 of Law 126/1995 for unlawful possession and use of pyrotechnics, and 25 faced no legal measures after checks. Polsat News put the earlier figure at about 120 fans moved to five police units, with 113 still held there on Sunday, 15 November. Romanian officers told Polsat News that by the time of its reporting no Polish fans remained in Bucharest police units. According to data Polsat News obtained, one fan was taken to hospital.

Under investigation, article 32 Law 4/200474

Under investigation, pyrotechnics offence1

No legal measures after checks25

Under investigation, article 32 Law 4/2004

74 people

Under investigation, pyrotechnics offence

1 people

No legal measures after checks

25 people

Data from the article text

Conflicting accounts of penalties

Polsat News, citing police information, reports that 89 people were handled with fines and released after the footage was reviewed, and that 74 were fined for riot and one for fireworks. The Romanian gendarmerie statement, however, lists the 74 as under investigation, a different status from a fine. The two accounts therefore describe the same group differently, and the official figures released so far do not settle which applies to each person.

Official reaction and open questions

The Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs posted a message on Facebook on Sunday, 15 November.

“Violence required intervention. The MAI structures acted.”

The ministry thanked officers for their professionalism and fans who chose fair play, saying rivalry belongs to sport while violence does not. Investigators said they are continuing to examine the material, and police and gendarmes are still establishing how the incidents unfolded and which legal measures apply.