Fan hospitalised after falling through stand at Norwegian football match

Several fans were injured during a football match in Norway’s top division when a panel in the travelling supporters’ stand gave way.

Fans in the away section of Tromso’s stadium fell through a hole in the stand and one person was taken to hospital during their match against Bodo/Glimt on Sunday, both clubs said.

The game was stopped just before half-time when Bodo keeper Nikita Haikin called the referee’s attention to the incident behind the goal where the away fans were standing in the pouring rain.

“We have had a serious incident in the away stand in connection with the game between TIL and Bodo/Glimt. Preliminary information is that a person has fallen through the stands and is injured,” Tromso said in a statement.

“Up to five people fell through the stands, and one was sent to hospital,” Bodo press officer Simen Pedersen told the Reuters news agency.

The statement gave no details about the injuries.

“We stood and bounced to a supporter song, then the floor gave way; it cracked in two in the row in front of us,” Andrine Moen, a Bodo supporter who witnessed the accident, told local newspaper Verdens Gang (VG).

“There were at least two people who fell through the floor, but we don’t know how far they fell or how many fell in total,” she said.

Bodo fans were instructed to leave the away section, with Tromso fans asked to make space for them in other parts of the ground, VG reported.

Following consultations between the two teams, the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), supporters and the police, the game resumed and Bodo’s Ola Brynhildsen scored twice to send his side top of the Eliteserien table, ahead of Viking Stavanger on goal difference.