Baltic football riots

RIGA- Lithuanian football fans rioted in the Latvian resort city of Jurmala during and after the football game between Lithuanian and Estonian teams late on Saturday, reported Latvian Football Federation spokesman Martins Hartmanis.

"The municipal police did not manage to control the crowd, therefore police special unit was asked for help," said Hartmanis.

Six Lithuanian football fans were arrested and several people were taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the police reported that one football fan has been detained during riots. The police received a call after drunken Lithuanians had damaged two cars. Two criminal procedures have been launched.

Lithuanian football fans vandalized seats at the stadium and lightly injured policemen who tried to prevent the riot. The Lithuanian football fans had fights with the Estonians after the game.

At the end of the game the Lithuanian team managed to hit a goal, and three Estonian fans ran onto the field. Lithuanian fans began jumping on chairs, breaking them. When the police tried to stop them, they were hit with fragments of chairs, injuring policemen.

About 100 chairs are broken, and the toilets of the new stadium vandalized.

Clashes between Lithuanian and Estonian football fans continued when the game was over and they left the stadium.

According to the federation, about 300 Estonian fans and about 150 Lithuanian fans had arrived to the games. The police detained three Estonians and one Lithuanian, but later released them as they had not been the rioters.

There were no incidents during the Lithuanian-Latvian game on Sunday.

 The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) is prepared to compensate damages to Latvia's sea resort town Jurmala's stadium.

"Representatives of the Latvian Football Federation requested compensation for 86 chairs broken by Lithuanians in the stadium. An official letter has been handed in to Director of Lithuanian national teams Robertas Tautkus. Damages will have to be covered", LFF Spokeswoman Vaiva Zizaite told the Baltic News Service

In its first match of this year's Baltic Cup, the Lithuanian national team scored a 1:0 victory against the Estonian team, which lost the second game in a row.

A riot broke out in the stadium after the winning goal by Valerijus Mizigurskis during the 87th minute, at which time three Estonian fans ran out onto the field and their Lithuanian counterparts started jumping on the stadium's chairs.

"Such behavior on the part of our fans is not justifiable. Another two buses filled with fans arrive to Riga today. I hope such an incident will not repeat itself", Zizaite said.

The final game of the Baltic Cup will be between the Lithuanian and Latvian teams.