Austria did not let Hungarian Fradi fans through, German police searched them

“You must be kidding me: German police held up the train carrying Ferencváros fans travelling to tonight’s Europa League clash with Bayer Leverkusen for two hours”, the Hungarian government’s international spokesman, said on Twitter. However, it seems the German police found a lot of illegal stuff in the bags and pockets of the fans travelling to German for the Fradi-Leverkusen match.

According to Magyar Narancs, German police seized pyrotechnics, knives and narcotics in the bags and pockets of the fans of Ferencváros, Hungary’s most famous football club, travelling to the club’s stadium in Munich. Their train went through Slovakia and the Czech Republic because the Austrian authorities made it clear before that they would not let it pass.

The inspection:

Based on the information of Sächsische.de, the German police’s action took approximately 1.5 hours. Police officers searched the bags and the carriages and seized a “moderate amount” of pyrotechnics, narcotics, knives, and smoke bombs.

Here is how Zoltán Kovács reacted:

You must be kidding me: German police held up the train carrying Ferencváros fans traveling to tonight’s @EuropaLeague clash with @Bayer04_en for two hours. They said that the train “poses danger to Germany.” And our Western “friends” dare lecture us on “democracy” and “rule of… https://t.co/6CzbSBGSq8 pic.twitter.com/6c53VXNBMQ

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) March 9, 2023

Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, said yesterday on the cabinet’s regular briefing that we must be cautious in labelling the German police’s actions. However, he added that German authorities committed “anti-Hungarian” acts. He probably referred to the 2021 European Championships Germany-Hungary match when German police raised charges against Hungarian fans.

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“We are the Ferencváros” – in the Leverkusen stadium:

And this is how their train departed:

Otherwise, Ferencváros lost

Leverkusen started the game strongly and took the lead through Demirbay’s cross-shot in the 10th minute, but Fradi refused to buckle, Bálint Vécsei threatening soon after, only for his shot to fly high over the crossbar. The same player then crossed for Zachariassen to head towards goal but the ball cannoned off the bar and away to safety, mlsz.hu wrote.

Although the hosts reasserted their dominance, they weren’t able to make it count again until the 86th minute when Tapsoba doubled his team’s lead following a free-kick. Two-nil was the final result and Endre Botka’s yellow card means he’ll be suspended for next Thursday’s second leg in the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, the same stadium that will host the final on 31st May.

Europa League, Round of 16, first leg:
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 2-0 Ferencváros (HT: 1-0)

Goalscorers: Demirbay (10.), Tapsoba (86.)

Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky – Kossounou, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie – Frimpong, Amiri, Demirbay – Diaby (Hlozek, 71), Azmun (Adli, 60), Wirtz (Schick, 89)
Ferencváros: Dibusz – Botka (Wingo, 87), Knoester, Abena, Civic – Vécsei, Esiti – Traoré (Frederiksen, 87), Zachariassen, Marquinhos (Gojak, 78) – R. Mmaee.

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Source: Magyar Naranncs, mlsz.hu