2 Israelis injured in Polish soccer hooligan attack

Masked soccer hooligans attacked staff traveling with an Israeli soccer team following a friendly match in Poland, slightly injuring two men, officials said.

Polish media and police said that the attack happened on Wednesday evening in Suchocin, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of Warsaw, following a friendly between Hapoel Petah Tikva and a local Polish club.

A police spokeswoman, Kinga Drezek-Zmyslowska, said police were alerted after the match about an attack on two men who had traveled with the Israeli team.

She said the attack was apparently carried out by soccer hooligans and that police were trying to identify them. It was not immediately clear what caused the incident.

The Israeli team however, suspects the attack on its staffers was intentional and premeditated. A statement posted to the team’s official page said the game took place under police guard, and was incident-free. The team said that it wasn’t until after the officer left that the dozens of Polish fans descended on the Israelis.

בתמונה: שני גלוחי ראש עוצרים גלוח ראש שתקף את אנשי הפועל פ״ת pic.twitter.com/3nOdMYdWyd

— Alex Golts (@goltstar_) August 2, 2017

Security camera footage shows the brawl unfolding near the stadium following the game.

The two Israelis staffers escaped the incident with minor injures.

Photos uploaded to social media appear to show local police making an arrest at the stadium.

“It was really scary, the kind of thing that you see in movies,” one of the Israelis told the Ynet news site on Thursday. “It ended with a black eye and a little blood, but it could have been much worse.”

“An Israeli group traveling abroad are always a target,” he added.

Hapel won the match 2-0.