AMMAN, Jordan -- Fans of rival Jordanian soccer teams clashed after a match, injuring 250 people in violence that pointed to the deep divisions between the nation's native Bedouin clans and its Palestinians.
Most of the injuries occurred when a large metal fence separating spectators from the playing field in the Amman stadium collapsed during Friday night's unrest between fans of national teams Wehdat and Faisali, said police spokesman Col. Ahmed Abu-Hamad. Thirty policemen were among the injured, he said.
There is a long history of violence between supporters of the two teams, stemming in part from the decades of tension with Jordan's large Palestinian population, which includes an estimated 1.8 million refugees displaced after Israel's 1948 creation and their descendants.
Most of Faisali's players and fans are from native Jordanian Bedouin tribes. Most of Wehdat's players and fans are Palestinian.
poor people. To much politicks and religion. Football should be a free place away from these topicks. Football should be just joy and happieness.