Master celebration of the SK Sturm Graz: Violence and chaos after the final whistle!

Master celebration of the SK Sturm Graz: Violence and chaos after the final whistle!

Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße, Graz, Österreich - On May 25, 2025, the SK Sturm Graz celebrated its second championship in a row. However, the celebrations ended in chaos when there were violent riots between fans and security forces. After the game of the game in which the championship title was secured, there was an atmospheric sight with fireworks and pyrotechnics. However, this should quickly turn into violence, such as [OE24] (https://www.oe24.at/sport/fussball/fussball-national/bundesliga/sturm-graz/sturm-meisterfeier-Sklidungs-auschen- und-7-lutze/634685527), which describes the dramatic events in detail.

Around the celebrations were initially no noteworthy incidents. Both the Styrian police and the security services reported a quiet course during the game. The stadium's forecourt was the central place of the celebration, where players and fans came together to celebrate success. However, this festival was disrupted by attacks by hooded people at around 9:30 p.m., the security employees attacked with iron bars. This escalation led to five injured security forces and two bleeding police officers, such as Kleine Zeitung reported.

chaotic scenes and police interventions

The police, which was thrown at garbage cans, beer benches and glass bottles, could not stop the riots at first. The use of pyrotechnics after the game contributed to the heated mood. The situation continued to escalate when a fire alarm was triggered in the stadium garage, which the professional fire brigade called on the scene. Despite the chaos, the police finally succeeded in calming down the crowd and ending the musical performances around 10 p.m.

The police outlined that the aggressions did not take place among the fan groups, but were directed directly against the security forces. After the first reassurance, around 300 people gathered in front of the Sturm Local in Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße around midnight. Here, too, Zündler became active for pyro effects, which not only caused the mood, but also for traffic disruptions. Firefighters had to extinguish an open fire that was lit.

consequences for security and future measures

The riots again shed light on the challenges of security at sporting events. In recent decades, violent clashes between fans have increased, which requires effective handling and preventive strategies. The [Research Center for Violence at sporting events] (https://www.krim.unibe.ch/forschung/forschungenstelle_chalt_SSport events/index_ger.html) emphasizes that a collaboration between the police, associations and security services is necessary in order to proceed more effectively against such riots.

The recent incidents in Graz illustrate the urgency of measures such as the Hooligan concordat, which set specific requirements for fans and security services. Such events could also lead to measures to be checked and adapted to further increase the security of major sporting events and to preserve the integrity of the celebrations.