PSV supporters are not welcome in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on 6 November at their club’s football match against Ajax. The reason is, among other things, the anti-Semitic chants that were uttered again on July 30 during Ajax-PSV in Amsterdam by supporters of the club from Eindhoven, mayor Femke Halsema writes in a letter to PSV.
For the time being, it concerns the competition match of 6 November. “The triangle will then reconsider whether the number of PSV supporters present can be gradually increased again for subsequent matches,” the letter states. “In this consideration, the behavior of your supporters around matches and in the stadiums in the coming period will of course be a crucial factor.”
‘Unsavory Curses’
During the match of 30 July in Amsterdam for the Johan Cruijff Scale, according to Halsema, a large group of PSV supporters chanted, despite repeated warnings, ‘prolonged (anti-Semitic) chants, hurtful songs and very unsavory curses and (punishable) insults at a number of Ajax. players’.
They also caused destruction in the stadium, objects and liquids were frequently thrown from the compartment to surrounding compartments and instructions from stewards were massively disregarded. This led to the deployment of the Mobile Unit.
Size is full
According to the mayor, who also writes the letter on behalf of the police and the Public Prosecution Service, enough is enough. Looking back, since 2017, anti-Semitic slogans have been shouted at every match between Ajax and PSV such as “All Jews must die” and “Together they burn Jews, because Jews burn best,” she writes. “Despite frequent warnings, the Amsterdam triangle has not noticed any improvement in the behavior of your supporters in recent years. The warning stage is now over.”
Accept
Halsema further says that the chants of Ajax supporters during the game on July 30, such as “All farmers are gay”, will not be tolerated either.
PSV understand Halsema’s decision. “We can do nothing but accept this”, a spokesperson for the club from Eindhoven responds. “We also do not want such sounds to be used. We understand that Mrs. Halsema reacts in this way. It is a shame that the good supporters have to suffer from the bad again. Let’s hope that a general awareness will now set in. Encouraging our own players gives those players a boost. But it doesn’t help them if rivals are insulted. It doesn’t have a positive effect on their game.”