Riots and championship celebrations: on May 1st, a super meltdown threatens in Zurich
Labor Day on May 1st is a recognized public holiday in the canton of Zurich. Then there is a state of emergency in the city. And the city police are in action with a large contingent. The officials usually have a lot to do with that alone. Because of Corona and bad weather, the last two years have been relaxed. The big riots didn’t happen.
But this year there is a risk of super escalation. In addition to the classic May Day riots, there could be two championship celebrations in the city.
On May 1st of all days there will be a showdown between FC Zurich and Basel in Basel’s St. Jakob-Park. And if Zurich then wins, the championship title is sealed for FCZ after 13 long years. Should FC Zurich win the title, that would mean a state of emergency. Celebrating fans will take to the streets. Not only in Basel, but of course also in Zurich.
“That flies into our ongoing operational planning”
That’s not all: At the same time, there could be another championship celebration. The ZSC Lions are currently in the ice hockey final against EV Zug. And if Zug can win the next two games of the playoff final, the ZSC Lions will have a decisive game on May 1st in Zug. Should the Lions then win, ZSC fans would join the FCZ supporters.
May 1st demo and two championship celebrations – it could be a long day for the Zurich city police. The agency is preparing for the worst and is armed. “That flies into our ongoing deployment planning,” says Judith Hödl (53), media chief of the city police, to Blick.
She does not provide any specific information about the preparations. Nor how many participants the authority expects for the approved May 1 move. After the event there is only an estimate. “But we don’t count them,” explains Hödl.
No help from Kapo Zurich planned so far
However, there should not be few participants. Before Corona, in 2019, there were around 16,000 demonstrators who marched through downtown Zurich. And when FC Zurich and the ZSC Lions won the titles in the past, thousands of supporters were there.
Despite everything, Judith Hödl does not think it is very realistic that the Zurich cantonal police will support the city police with officers on May 1st. The media manager on Blick: “Basically, on May 1st, the city police are on duty in the city of Zurich, apart from the areas of competence of the cantonal police.” This applies to Zurich main station, for example.
But it is not completely out of the question that Kapo Zurich has to help. In 2019, a corresponding media release said: “On the afternoon of May 1, the Zurich city police were supported by the Zurich cantonal police with lattice vehicles.”
Zurich is also successful in the second division
It remains to be seen whether the May Day demonstration will be peaceful. “Only the demonstration on the morning of May 1st is approved,” explains Hödl. “In recent years, however, there have always been unapproved post-contestations,” she is aware. In the past, such cases often resulted in damage to property and evictions.
Whether the city police WILL also take care of euphoric sports fans on this year’s Labor Day depends on the performance of the Zurich teams. Viewed across the entire canton, this year has definitely been successful for Zurich so far. FC Winterthur leads the table in the second highest football league. And EHC Kloten has already celebrated its return to the highest Swiss ice hockey league.