FCZ thugs are hunting GC fans – in Wiesendangen

Almost a quarter of the Swiss football championship has been played, and the “hobby” of some FC Zurich supporters has already made headlines again – far away from their own team, far away from the Letzigrund Stadium, and not even in the city of another club in the top division. The crime scene of the latest appearance by FCZ thugs was the Chilbi in Wiesendangen, a rural community with 6,500 inhabitants northeast of Winterthur.

According to eyewitnesses, several masked people hunted other young men there on Sunday night. According to a report by Tele Züri, one of the attackers is said to have been arrested by the cantonal police in the FC Wiesendangen marquee. From local football club circles, the article goes on to say that the unpleasant scenes at Chilbi followed a familiar pattern: FCZ chaotics parade through the streets to intimidate or publicly beat up supporters of the Grasshopper club they hate. It doesn’t matter whether they have to go out into the country or not.

The FCZ played on Sunday, GC played away in Winterthur on Saturday evening. From Winterthur to Wiesendangen it takes just 6 minutes by S-Bahn. According to well-informed circles, there is said to be a larger group of GC supporters in the neighboring community of Rickenbach. So it’s quite possible that GC fans visited the Chilbi in Wiesendangen after the match in Winterthur – and FCZ bullies got wind of it.

Police prevent anything worse from happening

Then things happened quickly: The FCZ chaotics are said to have attacked several Chilbi visitors who they thought were GC fans. Two FC Wiesendangen players were knocked down and one of them had to be treated in a medical ambulance. Eyewitnesses alerted the police. Except for one, the attackers had piled up before law enforcement officers could catch them.

The FCZ thug in the marquee had apparently also tried to escape the security forces. He could be placed behind the bar and taken away.

The cantonal police confirmed the incident. Shortly after 1 a.m., an emergency call was received that up to 25 masked people attacked several visitors at the Chilbi in Wiesendangen, a spokesman said on Monday in response to a request from the NZZ. Several patrols were on site within a few minutes, so major riots were prevented.

And: According to initial findings from the cantonal police, the thugs were actually FCZ supporters. One of the victims in Wiesendangen has filed a complaint of assault, as the police write. The person arrested from the festival tent is a 17-year-old Afghan who lives in the city of Zurich. In the meantime he was released.

Shady characters

After the police operation, the Chilbi was able to continue in Wiesendangen. The festival lasted until 4 a.m. as planned. Many stand operators and visitors probably didn’t notice anything about the fights and the intervention of the security forces.

But the moment of horror at the village festival was still not completely over.

The Tele Züri report was broadcast early on Sunday evening. The man who provides information and who observed the desolate scenes with his own eyes no longer wants to see his name in the media. He feels uncomfortable, and there is a reason for that: “Later on Sunday evening, FCZ fans were sneaking around Chilbi again. Then I thought: They’re looking for someone,” he told the NZZ on Monday.

His reaction: to quickly take off the sweater and hat that he had also worn at Tele Züri so that the shady characters at the village festival wouldn’t recognize him. Better safe than sorry. He then informed a plainclothes police officer who advised the men from the FCZ milieu not to cause any trouble.

FC Zurich has a violence problem

This episode also fits with the phenomenon of fan violence that the city of Zurich and the region have been struggling with for years: whether on the S-Bahn after a GC match in Wettswil two years ago, whether at the Züri-Fäscht 2023, whether at the bakery last spring or on the Hardbrücke, at the Oerlikon train station or Altstetten: violent FCZ chaos spread fear and terror, so that even bystanders like the man on the Chilbi in Wiesendangen fear for their safety.

A GC fan told the NZZ in the spring: “In every other city in Switzerland you can wear a GC jersey without hesitation. In Zurich, however, you get a fist in the face.” He also definitely didn’t want to see his name in the newspaper. “That would be far too dangerous for me,” said the man. The assault report from the weekend is an exception. Most victims do not dare to take action against the perpetrators from FCZ fan circles.

And FC Zurich?

Those in charge of the city club are not to be envied. The FCZ needs its fans, the club relies on income from ticket sales. And he knows that some fans always offer others – the violent ones – shelter in the anonymous mass of the south curve in Letzigrund. That’s why the club leadership around President Ancillo Canepa finds it so difficult to identify the problem of violence in its own ranks and to condemn outright the atrocities of the thugs with the FCZ colors. This time too.

On Monday evening, the club told the NZZ in a statement: “We always distance ourselves from any form of violence.” However, they don’t want to go any further because: “The FCZ is responsible for security in the stadium. What happens at the Chilbi in Wiesendangen is clearly beyond our control.”

In Wiesendangen you see things differently. “We are dismayed by what happened at the weekend,” says Andreas Müller from the SVP, who is responsible for culture and leisure on the local council. “It’s crazy that you suddenly have to worry about safety at a village festival.” You shouldn’t be surprised that the image of football fans isn’t the best.