The perpetrators of the riots during the football match MVV-Roda JC Friday evening are traced and punished. MVV Maastricht announced this in a joint statement with the Municipality of Maastricht on Saturday afternoon. The Regiegroep Football and Security, which includes the KNVB, mayors, police and justice, will meet on Monday for emergency consultations.
On Friday evening, riots broke out in De Geusselt stadium in Maastricht during the MVV – Roda JC match. Firecrackers were thrown. Referee Joey Kooij was forced to stop the match after forty minutes.
In order to restore calm, the Mobile Unit had to be deployed, as well as the detention unit. In the end, Mayor Annemarie Penn decided to cancel the competition. “The referee had already temporarily stopped the game,” Penn said.
,,I have been in contact with him and he was in contact with both clubs. Security in the stadium could no longer be guaranteed. I am very sorry for the vast majority of fans who wanted to party, but the persistent actions of the rioters made it necessary to intervene.”
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,,It promised to be a great festive evening”, said a spokesman for MVV. “Until a group of around 25 malicious attendees has used it back and forth for 6,500 benevolent supporters. We are in intensive consultation with the KNVB and the triangle of municipality, police and justice to see how we can prevent this now national social problem in the future.
Criminal behavior
Six officers and two stewards of Roda JC were injured because rioters threw chairs and signs at them, among other things. One of the injured officers had to be taken to hospital. Ten suspects have been arrested.
Outgoing justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus spoke on Twitter on Saturday afternoon about ‘violent criminal behaviour’. He spoke to Mayor Penn and the police. “This has nothing to do with football. The police and the Public Prosecution Service are doing everything they can to give rioters every chance.” He announced that he would quickly enter into a discussion with the KNVB about the riots.
Penn expressed her horror at Friday night’s events. ,,What happened from the 42nd minute defies imagination. Football should be a party, this became a drama.” It is not yet clear what the riots mean for the next Limburg derbies. Penn: ,,We discuss that with the police, the judiciary and the clubs. But it is clear to me that this can no longer be the case.”
‘Unfortunately not any incident’
Mayor of Breda Paul Depla, who joins the working group on behalf of the mayors of the host cities, says: ,,Unfortunately, this is not the first incident this year involving violence in and around the stadiums. That is why there will be an extra meeting with the management group on Monday to discuss the situation and to see what steps need to be taken. Because the fact that this violence has to stop is clear as a matter of course.”
‘Too sad for words’
The police expect to arrest more people in the coming days and weeks based on camera images. A 24-year-old man from Maasmechelen (Belgium) and six men from Maastricht, aged 50, twice 28, 23, 20 and 19, are incarcerated. In addition, three men from Maastricht, twice aged 24 and 22, have been arrested and have since been released.
Depla calls the events ‘too sad for words’. “Anyone who loves football can only condemn this behavior 100 percent and without ifs and buts.”
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