Response from Mayor Dirk De fauw: “There must be a solution no matter what”:
The mayor of Bruges, Dirk De fauw, understands the unrest of the bus drivers and wants consultations with De Lijn and Club Brugge. The system, in which supporters are taken from the center to the Jan Breydel by bus, has proven its worth, he says. The alternatives also entail major risks.
The system was already in place during the European Championship in 2000, and has been used successfully every time in recent years. Yesterday’s incident cannot be justified, but according to Mayor De fauw there is no real alternative. On the regular bus lines the risk of confrontation with Bruges supporters is too great, and walking from the center to the stadium is also asking for difficulties.
Mayor of Bruges Dirk De fauw: “First of all, that is a long distance, and moreover, you always have people who escape, who take a side street, and then end up at De Platse on Sint-Andries, or who find it necessary to cause damage along the way.
The system in which they are collected on the Zand and taken by bus to the South Stand, where they need to be, and from there back to the center, that is the ideal formula. However, we should not be confronted with such facts. In any case, a solution will have to be found. Certainly, that is why we will discuss with De Lijn and with Club Brugge how we should approach this in the future. This method has proven to be the right one and we should be able to maintain it.”