Antwerp Police say “Nice to see that many supporters respected the measures”
Despite one of the city’s two big football clubs having won its first trophy in 28 years, police in Antwerp report that things remained calm on Saturday night with Royal Antwerp FC fans and others in the city largely following the measures brought in to curb the spread of COVID-19. Just one fan was detained for setting of fireworks in celebration of the Great Old’s win.
Wouter Bryns of the Antwerp Local Police Service told VRT News that "We understand that supporters want to party, but that just isn’t possible right now”.
“It was nice to see that most respected the measures. Here and there we went to bars that had put a TV screen outside on their terrace. Those kind of events weren’t allowed. All our mediation attempts were successful”.
The police also kept a watchful eye on squares where people had congregated. They were asked to observe the rules, but they reconverged as soon as the police had left. Mr Bryns described their behaviour as “incomprehensible”.
"After the match we saw that fireworks were being let off here and there. One person was caught letting off fireworks and was detained. Between 10 and 15 people jumped into the water near to the stadium. They too were warned to uphold the rules that are currently in force and to ensure that they didn’t disturb public order”, Mr Bryns added.