PFA SCOTLAND have warned their members not to approach lit pyrotechnics which have been thrown onto the field of play during matches after a Belgian footballer lost a finger and had two others partially amputated after picking up a banned device with the power of a hand grenade.
The Edinburgh derby between Hibernian and Hearts at Easter Road yesterday was delayed following both goals so that a green smoke cannister and a maroon flare could be removed from the playing surface by stadium security staff.
Several games involving Scottish teams this season have been marred by similar incidents.
Celtic were fined €20,000 and given a suspended away fan ban by UEFA after their supporters set off fireworks during the Champions League league phase match against Borussia Dortmund in Germany earlier this month.
Rangers have also been hit with fines of €19,000 and €13,750 by European football’s governing body for their supporters’ use of pyrotechnics at their Europa League league phase games against Malmo in Sweden last month and Lyon at Ibrox earlier this month.
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Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, accused the individuals responsible of not caring about the Parkhead club and John Gilligan, the interim Rangers chairman, publicly appealed for the dangerous and illegal practice to stop.
Furious Rangers fans turned on a small group of ultras in the redeveloped Copland Stand during the first half of the Lyon game when they lit flares and launched rockets which exploded above the heads of the players on the park.
KCT Menen player Fabio Schiafino lost a finger and had two others partially amputated after he picked up a firework which one of his own club’s supporters had thrown onto the pitch after a Division C4 match against SK Sillebek in Belgium last week.
Schiafino underwent three operations on his badly injured right hand during the course of the next two days – but he lost his entire index finger and half of his thumb and middle finger.
“I first thought it was a smoke bomb,” he said. “I immediately saw the danger, both for my teammates and the fans. There were children around and I didn’t want anyone to get burned. In a split second, I decided to remove the projectile. When the smoke cleared, I saw a lot of blood on my right hand and that some fingers were missing.”
It later emerged the device had been a Cobra 6 firecracker – a device which is banned in Belgium, contains 25 grams of explosive material and has the power of a hand grenade when it is ignited.
Fraser Wishart, the chief executive of PFA Scotland, was horrified when he learned of the incident in Belgium and he has reiterated his organisation’s warning to Scottish players not to approach pyrotechnics which are thrown onto the pitch during games following the spate of recent offences at home and abroad.
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“PFA Scotland gave players advice on what to do regarding pyrotechnics along with the SFA a few years ago,” he said. “This is something which we have to revisit along with the governing bodies.
“These are dangerous things. There was a player in Cyprus last season who lost his hearing when a pyrotechnic exploded near his head. Thankfully, it was only temporarily. But I have seen supporters who have had their fingers blown off because they were holding a device when it exploded. Now we have had this terrible incident in Belgium.
“Certain supporters, in particular members of these ultra groups, seem to think they can pay their money and do whatever they want. How do you stop people who seem to think that when they pay their £25 it is it's their divine right to do anything they want? I don't know how you change that mentality. But it’s something we need to raise again.
“Lighting and throwing these things endangers your fellow supporters as well. What if you throw it and it lands beside a small child and explodes? There was a young Dundee supporter who was scarred for life by a flare last season. Using pyrotechnics has at football matches potentially devastating implications for players and fans.”
KSCT Menen have confirmed they will take civil action against the 21-year-old supporter who threw the Cobra 6 which badly injured Schiafino and Wishart stressed that could happen in Scotland.
“The individual responsible for hurting somebody with a pyrotechnic is putting themselves at risk of being banned from football, of being prosecuted by the police and of being sued,” he said. “If something bad was to happen to a to a player then it would be passed to our lawyers and be moved into a different domain.”
Hibernian and Hearts were both approached for comment.
