Fans, police brawl ahead of World Cup match between Morocco, Spain

By Hilmi Sever

DOHA, Qatar (AA) – Football fans and police brawled before Morocco qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar after beating Spain 3-0 on penalties Tuesday night.

Moroccan fans without tickets attempted to get into Education City Stadium ahead of the match by knocking down some of the barriers.

Together with the Qatari police, Turkish police, who are on duty at the World Cup thanks to a bilateral agreement, immediately stepped in.

With the support of mounted police officers, the Qatari and Turkish police brought things under control in a short time and eased tensions by surrounding the fans with new barriers.

Several football fans were detained following the incident and it was prevented from affecting the match with the timely intervention of security officials.

Under a bilateral security cooperation agreement, Türkiye has deployed more than 3,000 police officers and security personnel to provide security for the World Cup with their Qatari counterparts.