A group of about twenty people attacked a COC building in Eindhoven on Saturday evening. This is reported by the interest group for LGBTI people. A COC volunteer was beaten and a rainbow flag hanging from the facade was pulled off and tried to set on fire. The interest group is very sick of it and hopes that stricter action will be taken within the football world against, among other things, anti-gay chants. “As long as you allow it, you also normalize such behavior outside the stadium,” says chairman Benjamin Ector of COC Eindhoven.
Initially, the ANP reported that it would concern PSV supporters. But according to Ector, that is not known. “We don’t know, that’s why we didn’t mention which supporters are involved in our press release. We knew that they were football supporters who went to a PSV match, because they themselves used the word PSV. But whether it was Excelsior- whether PSV supporters will go, we don’t know.”
The incident happened around seven o’clock in the evening, an hour before the PSV match started. At that time there was a youth meeting for young people up to eighteen years old in the building of the COC on the Prins Hendrikstraat.
According to Ector, between 10 and 15 minors saw the group intimidatingly walk past the building, pull the flag off and hit it around. They also shouted swear words such as ‘cancer gay’.
“What started as a normal and pleasant meeting turned into a real hell.”
When a volunteer confronted the group about this, he received a blow to the head. According to the chairman, the incident did not last long. “They walked down the street, it didn’t seem like a deliberate action. But as soon as they saw the rainbow flag, they pulled it off.”
The children who saw it happen are very frightened, reports Ector. “What started as a normal and pleasant meeting turned into a real hell.”
According to Ector, the damage to the building is ultimately not too bad. The flagpole holder is broken and the flag is missing. According to him, the volunteer who was hit is doing well given the circumstances. “The blow was not too bad afterwards, it seems that he has not suffered any permanent damage.”
On Sunday afternoon, the COC reported it to the police and the incident was also reported to the anti-racism agency RADAR. In the meantime, contact has been made with the municipality. A police spokesman could not confirm the story. The spokesman for the municipality was also not aware of it on Sunday.
“As long as anti-gay chants are allowed, you normalize such behavior. Someone has to say: here is the red line.”
The COC Eindhoven has invited the municipality of Eindhoven, the KNVB and PSV for a discussion about safety around competitions and to put an end to the anti-gay chants.
“The anti-gay chants could also be heard in Spakenburg last week. We prefer that perpetrators are dealt with properly. As long as anti-gay chants are allowed, you also normalize such behavior outside the stadium. Someone has to say: here is the red line. Someone has to take that first step,” said Ector.
It also went wrong with football supporters in Eindhoven on Friday. Forty supporters of PEC Zwolle pelted the police with stones and street furniture after the away match against FC Eindhoven. They also assaulted young people who were playing football on a nearby hockey field. At Helmond Sport, a match was stopped that same evening after fireworks were thrown on the football field.
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