More than 500 Stuttgart fans taken into custody after mass brawl

More than 500 VfB Stuttgart fans were taken into custody after a mass brawl with Bayern Munich supporters outside the Allianz Arena in Munich before the hosts clinched the men’s Bundesliga title, police spokesman Christian Drexler said on Monday.

Some 1,000 fans were involved in the clashes on Sunday, the police said, adding that “it appeared to us that the incident was planned. It didn’t look spontaneous.”

Drexler said that around 500 Stuttgart fans were on their way from the underground station to the stadium when they suddenly began running in an unexpected direction.

The group, which included some masked people, encountered roughly the same number of Bayern fans at a parking lot.

The police were able to separate the two groups immediately and surrounded the Stuttgart fans.

About 350 of them were taken to the police headquarters in the city centre, while the rest were detained at the scene. By the evening, all of them had been released.

They are being investigated for, among other things, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

“Such troublemakers have no place here in Munich,” Drexler said.

Only Stuttgart fans were taken into custody because there weren’t enough police officers on site to detain both groups. More than 300 officers were on duty at the Allianz Arena for the entire match.

With this victory, Bayern secured their 35th German title and 34th in the Bundesliga era.