The violence comes ahead of a ‘high-risk’ football match. Dozens of masked hooligans attacked a restaurant in Poland where Hungarian football fans had gathered, smashing windows in an incident condemned by Hungary’s foreign minister as “shocking." The Hungarians barricaded themselves in during the incident late on Wednesday. The attack was carried out in the southern city of Zabrze, where Hungarian club Ferencváros Budapest are due to face Polish side Górnik Zabrze on Thursday. The match, the second leg of a Europa League third qualifying-round tie, is being treated by the authorities as a ‘high-risk’ fixture. Police said a group of hooligans associated with Górnik vandalized the restaurant, where other customers were also present, after attacking the Hungarian fans inside. “Police officers are carrying out measures aimed at establishing the identities of the people who carried out the attack. The attackers were masked,” Sebastian Bijok, a spokesman for Zabrze police, said on Thursday. “Empty containers from handheld pepper-spray devices that were used during the incident were found,” he added. Hungarian injured One Hungarian national was injured while trying to escape from the restaurant. “He suffered a leg injury while jumping over a fence. The injury was not the result of a beating,” Bijok said. ‘Shocking and unacceptable’ Hungary’s foreign minister, Anita Orbán, on Thursday condemned the attack, calling it “shocking and unacceptable.” “I strongly condemn all forms of violence. A sporting event should be about a shared experience and under no circumstances should it become a scene of violence,” she wrote on Facebook. Orbán said the injured Hungarian was being treated at a hospital in Zabrze. She added that she had spoken with Hungary’s consul general in Krakow, southern Poland, and that Hungarian police officers were assisting their Polish counterparts. Officers initially estimated that between 50 and 100 people took part in the unrest, although police spokesman Bijok said witness accounts differed and that CCTV footage would need to be analyzed. The restaurant owner has not yet provided an estimate of the damage caused. ‘High-risk’ match Thursday’s match between Górnik and Ferencváros has been classified as a high-risk fixture, with officers from police units across Poland's southern Silesian region due to be deployed to secure the game. Police said the number of officers could be increased further if necessary. The Europa League is UEFA’s second-tier European club competition, below the Champions League.
