Since last weekend, racism has been back in the picture in our football. How should this be tackled, that question keeps coming up. Three years ago there was an incident with a Kortrijk fan, who racist a Standard player
treated. The fan was tracked down, punished and repented. Sporza visited him: “A stadium ban is not the right solution,” he says anonymously.
In November 2018, Standard won 0-2 at KV Kortrijk, thanks in part to a penalty by Paul-José Mpoku. When he walks in after the match, he gets racist comments from a KVK fan. Mpoku also mentioned this.
The repentant supporter told his story to our man in the Kortrijk stadium today. “At the players tunnel I made a monkey gesture and monkey noise towards Mpoku,” he said. He knew he could hurt Mpoku that way.
“Actually, you do not touch a professional football player by shouting about how badly he plays, you try to touch the sensitive nerve. With a dark player, that happens very quickly with racism.”
However, he soon repented and apologized in the evening: “When I went home after the game, there was an immediate sense of guilt: “What I have done is not okay.” I immediately sent a message to the official channel of Mpoku.” The sorry was accepted by the player.
Immediately after the match I felt guilty and sent a message to Mpoku.
“Stories of people in asylum centers stay with us”
But the damage is done. He was quickly tracked down by the cameras in the stadium and called to the attention of the club: “I was still a student. There was a large fine and a long stadium ban. Then you are there as a student of “What now?” .”
He faced a fine of 5,000 euros and a stadium ban of 2 years. Because he showed guilt, he was given an alternative punishment by the club.
“That’s why, but also because I’m still a trainer in a football club with 80 percent of the players from other origins, Kortrijk believed in me.”
“The sanction I received was a kind of community service: I had to work for 30 hours in an asylum center in Menen.” That had a big impact on the man.
“I worked as a handyman. You came into contact with people on a daily basis. They helped with the chores, you saw that people really wanted to work to leave a good impression.”
“I saw a lot in those 30 hours, got to know a lot of people and heard their stories. That will stay with me.” It provided the man with the necessary insights.
“Community service is sustainable, stadium ban is not the right solution”
Simon Clinckemaille, the Fanbase Manager of KV Kortrijk, outlines the importance of this “sustainable” approach of the club. “It’s a both-and-story. On the one hand, you have to focus hard on raising awareness, where you communicate with your supporters. On the other hand, you also need a repressive policy.”
The club started 2 years ago with the project “Positive support”, which is also the core of the word “support”. You have to focus on your own team and not waste your energy on taking down the other team.”
“I think it is very important in such a case that we offer that person insight by explaining the situation, the facts and what impact this has on people on the field and possibly on other people.”
“By working sustainably in this way, we create a certain sense of insight in that person. As a result, they will also have a much better feeling when reintegrating into the stadium.”
The anonymous fan confirms this: “If you get a stadium ban of 5 years and you come back after 5 years, you will still have as much hate or even more and you might do it again. A punishment like mine is the right solution .”
Has much changed in the stadiums in the past 3 years? The fan personally says so: “There is still someone yelling somewhere, but I feel that there is something of the younger people with ‘Don’t do it, because you bring the club and yourself into negativity’.”
“You also see more than before that supporters speak to each other about it when something is shouted.”
This also gives you a better feeling when reintegrating into the stadium.
Watch the report in the Journal:
