Game interruption due to fish patties and pyrotechnics
First, fish cakes fly, then pyrotechnics disrupt the place, tennis balls follow: A football match in Norway is halted after 32 minutes. The fans celebrate their victory against the video referee.
The fish cakes were just the "appetizer". The stewards of Norwegian football champion Rosenborg Trondheim had only just removed the countless "fish cakes" from the grass in plastic containers, when the fans already lit pyrotechnics, later tennis balls flew. Until the league game against Lillestrom was eventually halted after 32 minutes.
This was the peak of the ongoing protests against VAR in the Eliteserien, and the echo was massive. Even the English newspaper "The Sun" reported on the "fish cake protest", the Norwegian Football Association NFF called for an emergency meeting on Monday evening. "That's sad and not acceptable", said General Secretary Karl-Petter Loken of the newspaper VG about the enforced halt.
Even in the Bundesliga, tennis balls flew
The scenes in Lerkendal Stadium reminded many of the protests in Germany against an investor's involvement in the DFL in the spring. The main difference being that in the Bundesliga, flummoxes and chocolate coins were also thrown, while Rosenborg fans threw fish cakes instead. Above all, they continued to ignore several warnings from the stadium announcer and provoked the halt. This had not happened in Germany.
"We understand that the fans have their opinion. But we are mostly angry because we cannot play our game", said Rosenborg coach Alfred Johansson. Lillestrom coach Andreas Georgson called the protest "stupid". Even the guests' fans joined in with a sign ("We never give up. The VAR must go").
For a moment, it was discussed to continue the game without spectators, but this idea was rejected after consultation with the police. The fans in Norway have been resisting the VAR for a longer time - also with an eye on the neighbor: Sweden was the only larger European football nation that had not introduced video assistants.
"Victory for the Anti-VAR fans"
The fans evaluated the events in retrospect as a success. "Our goal was not to stop the game. Our goal is only to get rid of the VAR", said Joacim Möller, spokesman for the Lillestrom fan group Kanarifansen, in VG: "I would say that the game tonight was a victory for the Anti-VAR fans."
Not everyone sees it that way. Arild Rudolf Thorp, responsible for match operations at the NFF, reminded that in Norway, controlled burning of pyrotechnics had only recently been allowed - under conditions. "We had found a good tone on the pyro topic, now the fans are shooting themselves in the foot. We'll see what happens in the future", he told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
The hidden warning left the fans cold. The protests against the VAR, announced Möller, would continue. If necessary, with fish cakes.
The referee struggled to maintain order amidst the chaos, as tennis balls replaced pyrotechnics as the latest disruption during the game. Despite the video referee's role in the controversy, fans saw their actions as a victory against the controversial technology.
