No admission for Union fans: the Old Market in Leuven (archive photo) Photo: picture alliance / imageBROKER | Moreno, J.
From BZ/dpa
1. FC Union Berlin is suing against the city of Leuven’s entry ban for German fans ahead of the Iron League’s crucial Europa League game at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.
On Wednesday, the club, together with three Union supporters, filed a lawsuit with the Belgian Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, to have the ban overridden, according to a statement from the club in the evening. According to information from Union, the court should decide on Thursday. The Irons will play at Saint-Gilloise on Thursday evening (9 p.m. / RTL +) for a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Leuven in Belgium issued an entry ban on supporters of the Berliners on Tuesday. With the decree of the mayor of the city near Brussels, the ban was imposed on Leuven and the surrounding area in order to prevent Union supporters from arriving without tickets, as Union announced on Tuesday. The authorities threatened arrests.
Due to various misconduct by some supporters in the Europa League game against Malmö FF, Union was not allowed to award away tickets for the game. The club had accepted this penalty from UEFA. “We accepted this punishment because we are aware of our responsibility for what happened in Malmo,” said Union President Dirk Zingler, according to the announcement.
Union is now taking action against the entry ban. “In our view, however, the decree of the mayor of Leuven is absolutely disproportionate. It overrides fundamental rights and is contrary to both the European idea and the idea of UEFA to hold competitions across national borders,” said Zingler.
Union had previously advised its fans not to travel. According to a dpa reporter, fans of the Köpenicker arrived in the region on Wednesday evening.