As of: February 17, 2024, 4:49 a.m
By: Johannes Skiba
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Press
Split
The Belgian authorities are uncompromising and almost arbitrarily arrested over 100 Eintracht Frankfurt fans.
There were no riots.
Brussels – Eintracht Frankfurt's appearance in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise started promisingly and ultimately ended in disappointment.
Nevertheless, the 2-2 score gives the SGE every opportunity to move into the next round of the Conference League.
The stay in the Belgian capital was even more disappointing for some Eintracht supporters.
130 fans of the Bundesliga club were arrested before the game.
Eintracht Frankfurt fans are not guilty of anything and are still arrested
The actions of the Belgian police raise questions.
According to a district mayor, numerous cars with German license plates were spotted near a swimming pool, which is about two kilometers from the stadium.
After checking the license plates, it was apparently determined that the vehicles were connected to people from the Frankfurt ultra scene.
The Belgian portal
VRT News
quoted a police spokesman about the arrests: “It happened without incident.
In order not to disrupt public order, they will be held in custody until after the game.
After the game they will be released and can return to Frankfurt.” However, none of the messages indicate that any real danger posed by the Frankfurt team.
The police probably acted on general suspicion.
Not all Eintracht Frankfurt fans saw their club's game in Brussels.
© Imago/Schmidt
Belgian authorities may have acted unlawfully against Eintracht fans
The restrictions imposed by the Belgian authorities were already unusually strict in advance.
The mayor of Anderlecht, the Brussels district in which the game was played, issued an entry ban that prohibited Eintracht Frankfurt fans from even entering the district.
The statement said that there were fears of “targeted attacks on Belgian fan bars, confrontations with the police and violence being used to break through stadium entrances without tickets.” Spectators were only allowed to travel to the stadium in shuttle buses that were escorted by the police.
Even though there have been repeated riots involving Frankfurt fans in recent years, this approach is causing discussions.
In 2018, similar measures were taken at an Eintracht game in Marseille, which a court declared to be illegal years later.
This ruling was ignored in Brussels – to the dismay of football fans.
(jsk)