Statement from Chairman of the Board Jaroslav Tvrdík
What is going through your mind right now? It was supposed to be a great Slavia celebration, but everything turned out differently…
“We cannot look for any excuses. Our fans entered the pitch and objectively caused the match to be abandoned before the final whistle. The opposition reported that one or two of their players were assaulted. I believe it is legitimate that the match was called off. When I spoke to our players, they said that if something similar had happened to us at their stadium, we would have reacted the same way. All we can do is apologise. We have to respond to this moving forward so that situations like this never happen again. It’s difficult. We were only three or four minutes away from celebrating the league title, and I believe the players would have managed it. Instead, this is probably the greatest disgrace I have experienced in my eleven years at the club. I apologise to all decent fans who remained in the stands, and to everyone watching at home. It is a disgrace, and we have to live with it.”
What did you say to the fans over the microphone?
“I asked them to leave calmly and not make an already serious situation even worse. I urged them not to escalate things further so that the police would not have to intervene. What we are facing is extraordinary in itself. It is our fault, and we must deal with the situation internally and continue fighting for the title. There is nothing more we can do about it at this moment. Once again, I apologise.”
Are you expecting consequences as a result?
“I do not want to speculate, but I think everyone expects them. The matter now belongs to the LFA disciplinary committee. The match was disrupted due to our fault, and the reasons for the abandonment were caused by our supporters. It can be expected that the match will be awarded against us by default. We have to be prepared for that, and our position in the title race has become extremely complicated. Once again, I apologise to everyone. I am very sorry.”
