The Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service has learned with shock about the unacceptable events that occurred on April 13, 2025, following the third-division match between SR Municipal Brașov and Székelyudvarhely FC.
After the match, supporters of the home team broke through the stadium’s security fence and attacked the players of the visiting team. The Hungarian players were physically assaulted while fans remaining in the stands openly chanted anti-Hungarian slogans. Players Levente Bara and Csongor Berkeczi both sustained physical injuries, and the team members were only able to avoid further attacks by fleeing to the locker room. This is not only unsportsmanlike conduct, but a criminal offense.
We call on the Romanian authorities not to look the other way! Identifying the perpetrators, holding them criminally accountable, and imposing sanctions on the club are essential to sending a clear message: ethnically motivated violence has no place either on the sports field or in society.
We find it extremely concerning that attacks specifically motivated by anti-Hungarian sentiment are becoming increasingly common at sporting events. These acts affect not only the individuals involved but our entire community. It is unacceptable in a rule-of-law state for a player to have to fear for their physical safety because of their ethnicity.
The Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service will file a formal complaint with the appropriate authorities. We cannot allow sport—which should be about building bridges between communities—to become a platform for hate campaigns and physical attacks.
Erika Benkő, director of the Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service, stated: “Romanian authorities must send a clear signal that anti-Hungarian sentiment will no longer be allowed to spread throughout society. It is frightening and disheartening that in this country, sport is mostly about the expression of anti-Hungarian hatred.”
(Photo: Székelyudvarhelyi FC/László Zsolt)