The police are done with the violence of football supporters. Since April of this year, the East Brabant police have had to deploy the Mobile Unit nineteen times during professional football matches. Police chief Wilbert Paulissen thinks that number is much too high. He is also concerned about the seriousness of football violence.
“A number of things have changed after corona,” Paulissen begins. “You can see in the behavior of rioting supporters that they are anti-government.”
In East Brabant, which includes clubs such as TOP Oss, FC Den Bosch, PSV, FC Eindhoven and Helmond Sport, 73 home games have been played since April. The deployment of the riot police was necessary nineteen times, while the police had only counted on ten times. “In nine cases, we found out in the days before that things could get out of hand.”
“Around the game against Rangers FC we deployed 500 riot police over two days.”
The police chief cites Helmond Sport as an example. Normally no ME deployment is necessary during matches at De Braak. “But at one point we had 24 police cars there. In the weeks that followed, the deployment of the ME was necessary.” The police see that image more often at competitions in the Kitchen Champion Division. According to Paulissen, this is because larger clubs have been relegated and there are more derbies, such as those between TOP Oss and FC Den Bosch.
But things are also increasingly going wrong at PSV and the violence has become more intense, especially during international matches. “Supporters all come to the city and not with a combi ticket directly to the stadium, as with a match against Feyenoord.” As a result, the ME is also needed in Eindhoven the days before.
“Around the game against Rangers FC we deployed 500 riot police over two days. That’s really too much. We don’t have those police officers in the neighborhoods, because riot police are often also community police officers.” An average PSV high-risk match requires the deployment of 200 to 300 police officers on the street. Helmond Sport’s about sixty.
“The commercial interests play a more important role than the risks surrounding the competition.”
The police leadership wants to reduce the deployment of riot police officers. “We want the same set-up as with events: basically there is no police deployment, the organization must arrange everything itself. We are only complementary.”
A number of solutions proposed by Paulissen:
- Combination tickets (supporters of the opposing team directly to the stadium by train or bus).
- Person-oriented approach against rioting supporters.
- In case of repeated violence, supporters of the away team refuse for a number of years.
- Better training of stewards at football clubs.
- Move matches forward, for example from 9:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
That last point is extremely difficult, Paulissen notes. On January 11, FC Den Bosch will play for the KNVB Cup against Ajax, a high-risk match. “We are already preparing for that match. We asked the KNVB to move that game from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. But that turns out to be not so easy, there are all kinds of commercial interests involved. And they play a more important role than the risks surrounding the match.” Ultimately, the request from the police was refused.
According to Paulissen, those two hours make a huge difference. The competition is on a normal working day. “When the game is at 7 p.m., people come home from work and go straight to the stadium. With a 9pm start time, they’ll have time to drink in and get together. The risk of unrest is then much greater.”
“They really go for violence and it is very difficult to get in touch with that.”
Refusing away supporters is not the solution. “Only if things get out of hand more often at a club, I am in favor of refusing supporters for a number of years,” adds Paulissen. And less deployment of ME, so that the police don’t act like a red rag to a bull? No, that’s not the solution either. “You see supporters who are out for riots ‘counting cops’ heads’. They do that to see if they can carry out their action or if they wait for the next time.”
The police notice that atmosphere groups are becoming groups that are out for a conflict. “They don’t look like supporters anymore. They wear black clothes and look more like burglars than football supporters. Those groups are also very far from us. They really go for violence and it is very difficult to get in touch with that.”
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