Budapest police opened proceedings against unknown perpetrators for gang violence after a street brawl in the early hours of May 30 and arrested three supporters on the eve of the Champions League final, charging two Portuguese men and one British man with disorderly conduct.
The BRFK 7th District Police Department said several fans got into a fight at around 00:20 on Kiraly Street in the city’s 7th district and that officers had detained two Portuguese men and one British man at a fan festival site on Friday. Police also said a British man who climbed onto the roof of a parked car and damaged the vehicle was arrested.
The arrests came as officials marshalled what Zoltan Janos Kuczik described as an unprecedented security operation across the capital. Nearly 4,000 police officers were to be deployed for the match day at the Puskas Arena, which had a capacity of 61,400 for the Champions League final due to kick off at 17:00 BST and was expected to attract tens of thousands of fans without tickets.
Police said they were analysing camera recordings from the area to identify other supporters involved in the altercation. The BRFK 7th District unit has initiated proceedings against unidentified suspects for the crime of gang violence while the three detained men face charges of disorderly conduct; further legal steps were not announced.
Security preparations for the final began more than a year before the event, and the Puskas Arena — which hosted the 2023 Europa League final — was part of a larger rebuilding project financed largely from public funds. The staging of the match in Budapest was described as a high-risk event, and the scale of the policing operation was underscored by preparations that included city-wide deployment plans drawn up well ahead of Saturday’s game.
The incident exposes a sharper contrast between the organisers’ ambitions for the match as a showcase for Budapest and the realities on the streets. What was planned as a single, high-profile sporting day morphed into a major policing operation accompanied by arrests, property damage and an active investigation into gang violence, tightening scrutiny on fan behaviour around the fan festival and city centre.
Police emphasised that the probe was ongoing and that officers were studying footage to build cases against other people seen on camera. Proceedings against unknown perpetrators remain open, and it is not yet clear how many individuals will ultimately face charges or further police action in connection with the Kiraly Street brawl.
