Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Thursday, February 19, 2026, 9:05 p.m. / Updated Thursday, February 19, 2026, 9:10 p.m.
His fans Crystal Palace they had unusual conditions when traveling from Bosnia, for the duel with Zrinjski Mostarthe runner-up in the first Bosnian league, in the UEFA Conference League.
At the match at Stadion Bijeli Brijeg, English supporters were placed in a cage surrounded by netting and bars.
PHOTO. Crystal Palace fans forced to watch the match “behind bars”
The English fans' area is surrounded by metal fencing and netting, and the structure gives the impression of a cage. Visibility is affected by the net placed in front of the sector, but also by the metal elements that block the view to the field.
Crystal Palace fans, forced to watch the match “between the bars” // PHOTO: Getty Images
It is not the first time that fans of a Premier League team complain about the conditions in the away game in Mostar.
In 2023, Aston Villa supporters were assigned to the same sector for a match against Zrinjski.
According to reports in the British media, including the Daily Mail, around 490 fans who traveled almost 1,500 miles to Bosnia were crammed into a space described as “a cage”, bounded by a metal structure on all sides and covered with netting on top. Although the sector was separated from the home gallery, conditions were considered uncomfortable and visibility limited.
Aston Villa supporters were forced to squeeze into a cage-like space as they watched their team's away game at Bosnian outfit Zrinjski Mostar. Villa were supported by 490 fans who traveled almost 1,500 miles to the Bosnian city, but they were separated in a cage-like area that looked extremely unsafe.
Although they were not near the home fans, the Villa supporters at the Bijeli Brijeg Stadium were surrounded at the front, side and back by a metal structure, and were additionally enclosed by a net on top.
– Source cited, in 2023
Rapid – FCSB, similar context
A similar situation also occurred in Romania, at the derby between Rapid Bucharest and FCSB, on April 23, 2023 (1-0), when the red-blue fans complained that they were isolated on the lawn with a huge canvas. Then, the club from Giulești took a novel decision: isolating the red-blue ultras from the rest of the spectators in the South Lawn with a huge white cloth.
Rapid – FCSB, similar context in 2023 // photo: GSP
And the supporters of the Rapid team went through a similar situation more than 15 years ago, on the old “house” of the FCSB, in Ghencea. In September 2007, the fans of Becali's team locked the speed players in a “cage” completely covered with netting, but the Giulești team managed to remove it at the beginning of the game.
