The Brussels Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into antisemitic chants during last week’s top-of-the-table soccer clash between RSC Anderlecht and Club Bruges.
Club Bruges’s president, Bart Verhaeghe, was invited Monday to the Prosecutor’s Office for questioning regarding the responsibility of the club in the incident.
Last Sunday, the match between RSC Anderlecht and Club Bruges took place at the former team’s Lotto Park in a crucial Belgian Pro League Championship Group match. Club Bruges won the game 1-3.
“During the match, supporters in certain stands chanted so-called ‘songs,’ including chants of an antisemitic nature that could be heard in the stands occupied by Club Bruges supporters,” according to the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation as this behavior constitutes a flagrant violation of the law.”
A criminal investigation has been opened on charges of incitement to hatred or violence. The aim is to identify the supporters involved so that they can be arrested and brought before the Prosecutor’s Office. They risk not only a stadium ban but also a criminal conviction.
“Such chants have no place in our society and undermine the values of sport,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office stated.
This is not an isolated incident. In recent years, there have been frequent incidents in and around the tense matches between the archrivals clubs, during which some Bruges supporters have not shied away from violence and racist or antisemitic language. Among them, Club Bruges supporters were caught on camera singing the words, “Mijn vader zat bij de commando’s, Mijn moeder bij de SS, En samen verbanden ze Joden, want joden die branden de best.”
When translated into English, the phrase means, “My father was part of a commando [unit], my mother was SS, and together they burned Jews, because the Jews burn the best.”
The club has consistently spoken out strongly against these actions.
