Juvenile supporters of FK Shkupi attacked players from the FC Vardar Youth (verified)

What happened: Two juveniles were physically attacked by a group of 20 to 30 people, most probably
fans of the FC Shkupi. After the two juveniles went out of the sports venue and headed towards the
City Park, they noticed that the group was moving behind them, in the immediate vicinity of the
Vardar Academy. When passing by, one of the people from the group punched one of the juveniles on
the face with his fist while several other people physically attacked the other juvenile punching him
and kicking him on the head and body. The juveniles noticed that one of the attackers had a knife
in his hand, and several other attackers had iron rods which they did not use. One of the juveniles
was taken to the General City Hospital 8 September with an ambulance where it was found that
he had sustained bodily injury. Previously, immediately before the incident took place, the police
officers who were on duty to keep order at the football match between FC Vardar and FC Shkupi,
had intervened and six people from Skopje and one person from Veles had been taken to the Police
Station Centar. The daily bulletin of the Ministry of Interior stated that measures were being taken
to find the perpetrator and resolve the incident.
Date, time and location of the incident: 19 February, 13:30, in the vicinity of the Vardar Academy,
Skopje.
Source of information: Dnevnik, daily newspaper.
Victim(s) involved: Two persons.
Type of crime(s): Bodily injury (Article 130, CC), Violence (Article 386, CC).
Perpetrator(s): Group of about twenty supporters of FC Shkupi.
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: In this incident, which took place immediately
after a football match, the bias motive is ethnicity, nationality or language, while the bias indicators
are:
1. Difference in ethnicity – The members of the fan clubs of Vardar and Shkupi are of different ethnicity;
2.Time – the incident took place after a football match between the clubs Vardar and Shkupi whose
fans/supporters are of different ethnicity;
Status of the case: Unknown
Response of the local authorities: The MoI’s response to the MHC request for public information
regarding this incident stated that in connection to this criminal offence SIA Skopje submitted a
written notification regarding the criminal act “Violence” punishable in accordance with Article 386
of the Criminal Code (KU.br.1743 / 17) to the Skopje Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: These types of incidents call into question the safety
in the country in general, the coexistence of different ethnic groups in the society and the safety of
people attending or near sports matches.