No AZ supporters are welcome at the home game of NEC against AZ on Sunday. The municipality of Nijmegen came to this decision together with the Public Prosecution Service and the police, NEC reports on Saturday in a statement. The reason is the misconduct of AZ hooligans last Thursday, who violently flattened a fence that separated the hard core from the main stand. Subsequent brawls also involved players from English away club West Ham United after seeing their families in danger.
On Friday, police said the opposite NRC that it had failed to arrest hooligans. The priority was to restore order and security at the stadium, and the group of hooligans quickly disintegrated, according to police, when the Mobile Unit (ME) arrived, which would have made it more difficult to apprehend perpetrators. The municipality of Nijmegen sees this as an important reason to ban all AZ fans now: the hooligans are still walking around freely and could otherwise – perhaps with the wrong intentions – travel to the Goffert Stadium.
The mayor of Nijmegen, Hubert Bruls, said in a statement that he regretted the measure. He regrets that “the many good have to suffer among the bad.” In recent months, clubs and the KNVB have taken tougher action against misconduct by supporters. After a 32-year-old Feyenoord supporter threw a lighter at the back of Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen last month, the KNVB decided that every object thrown on the field would lead to a temporary match strike. Since then, to the frustration of players and supporters, this has happened several times.
It is expected that the North Holland police will arrest AZ supporters in the near future. Images will soon be made public of people who were involved in the disturbances during and after the game against West Ham United, the police reported on Saturday. Perpetrators can prevent disclosure by reporting quickly on their own initiative. The police are also working to link the “various camera images” of criminal offenses to suspects.