List of Violent Spectator Incidents in Sports - 2011

2011

• March 20 – During a match between San Lorenzo and Vélez Sársfield of the Argentine Football Association, a riot broke out between rival fans at Vélez Stadium. The catalyst to the violence was the beating death of unarmed San Lorenzo fan Ramon Aramayo by police at a security checkpoint at the stadium's entrance. Seven minutes into the game, San Lorenzo goalkeeper Pablo Migliore dropped to the ground after being struck in the head by an object thrown from the stands. Fans ripped apart a chain-link fence separating themselves from police before order was restored.
• August 8 – In an Arena Football League semifinal playoff game between the Georgia Force and Jacksonville Sharks, a Sharks fan leaned over the wall separating the field from the stands and grabbed Force kick returner C. J. Johnson by his facemask, preventing him from running the ball out of the end zone. Officials assessed the home-team Sharks with a 15-yard penalty, and the fan was ejected from the arena. The Arena Football League is investigating the incident.
• October 30 – In a Romanian soccer Liga I game between FC Petrolul Ploiești and FC Steaua București, when a penalty kick was awarded to Steaua, a Petrolul fan, Dragos Petrut Enache ran onto the field and hit Steaua defender George Galamaz in the face with a heavy object, breaking his cheekbone; Enache was attacked and kicked by two Steaua players, Novak Martinović and Răzvan Stanca, who both received red cards for retaliating. When the play resumed, Steaua converted the penalty kick to go up 2–0 and Petrolul fans started throwing flares onto the field, hitting and slightly injuring Steaua goalkeeper Ciprian Tătărușanu. At that point, the referee decided to abandon the game. Enache was arrested and jailed.
• December 21 – In the 36th minute of a fourth round match in the 2011–12 KNVB Cup between Eredivisie clubs Ajax and AZ at Amsterdam Arena, Ajax held a 1–0 lead when a fan ran onto the pitch and launched a karate kick from behind at AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado, who responded by kicking the fan several times before security arrived and arrested the fan. When Alvarado was sent off for retaliating against his attacker, AZ walked off the pitch, and the match was abandoned. The KNVB rescinded the red card and ordered the match replayed in its entirety behind closed doors on January 19, 2012; Ajax was also fined €10,000 for failing to prevent the fan (who was supposed to be serving a three-year stadium ban) from entering the pitch, and given a suspended one-match spectator ban (not including the replay). Ajax accepted the penalties, and announced that it had given the fan an additional 30-year stadium ban and a lifetime ban from the club and its season ticket list.