Mass brawl after stadium festival: Lustenau becomes the epicenter of violence!

Mass brawl after stadium festival: Lustenau becomes the epicenter of violence!

A test match between Austria Lustenau and FC Augsburg, which took place on July 20, 2025, ended with a clear 0-2 for the Bundesliga club. For the second division team from Lustenau it was not just a sporting event, but also a setting for the opening of the new stadium in Vorarlberg. When a local stadium opens, expectations are high - unfortunately some fears came true that day.

The evening after the game, a bus with around 50 supporters of the third division team 1860 Munich rolled into Lustenau. A short stop was planned to meet the fans of the two clubs and possibly enable an exchange. But things took a violent turn: over 150 people were involved in a mass brawl that resulted in bottles and stones flying. Such images from the stadium surroundings are not what you would hope for. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, but four people were still injured and refused medical treatment.

The police in action

The police were deployed with 57 officers and felt compelled to escort the 1860 supporters' bus to the border to ensure that no further riots occurred. It is particularly questionable how fans could end up in such a situation after a sporting event. Another aspect is that the Munich coach and two parked vehicles were damaged. Such incidents reflect poorly on football and fan culture.

The background to such outbreaks is not new. The head of the state information center for sports operations in Baden-Württemberg, Uwe Stahlmann, reports that riots have unfortunately increased after the pandemic, even if they have not led to an excessive increase. “There is a new generation of fans who have to find themselves in an unfamiliar environment,” explains Stahlmann. The tensions between fans and the police are noticeable, and many are demanding that fans' personal rights be respected, says Waltraut Verleih from the fan lawyers' working group.

A look at the situation in football

The tension between fans and security forces is not just a regional problem, but extends across the entire football landscape. The introduction of stadium alliances in several federal states, including Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse, is intended to create a better exchange of information between police and fan representatives. Michael Gabriel, who heads the fan projects coordination office, sees this as an opportunity to regain the fans' trust and possibly prevent future outbreaks.

As the events in Lustenau show, football is not just a game, but also a reflection of social problems. The painful reality is that violence in and around stadiums remains an issue that requires solutions from all involved. Let's hope that such incidents will be a thing of the past in the future and that sport can concentrate fully on its positive power again.