...

Long night for some Czech fans after opening Euro match

Society Materials 9 June 2008 23:57 (UTC +04:00)

A group of 140 Czech fans including several celebrities were threated with suspicion when they were forced to spend the night in the Swiss city of Basle after watching their country beat Switzerland in the opening Euro 2008 match.

Czech news reports said on Monday that due to flight delays the Swiss authorities initially took the fans, including mothers with children and celebrities, to what resembled a fallout shelter complete with bunk beds.

While some fans opted to stay, the rest asked the Swiss police to be taken back to the airport, the reports said. The police, however escorted the group to the city's railway station where they were awaited by heavily-armed policemen.

"They thought we are dangerous, that something will happen," Czech award-winning screen actor Ivan Trojan told TV Nova.

"They realized in 20 minutes that we are normal fans who were not able to get back to Prague. They discreetly, silently disappeared," he said.

The fans ended up spending the night at a station cafeteria and flew back to Prague on Sunday. The Czech Republic defeated co-host Switzerland 1-0 in the tournament's opening game, dpa reported.

Latest

Latest