NOS Football•
Spakenburg intends to “confront” some of his supporters with their behavior during the lost cup match against PSV (1-2). PSV player Xavi Simons was regularly the target of chants during Tuesday evening’s game at sports park De Westmaat.
The international was constantly, much to the indignation of PSV and television viewers, hearing the chant ‘Xavi Simons is gay’ from Spakenburg fans. The club was even addressed by telephone about the chants during the match, it reports Eindhovens Dagblad.
Referee Jeroen Manschot left it to Simons during the match whether play should continue. The 19-year-old attacker, who is often the target of chants from opposing supporters in the Netherlands, chose to continue playing.
We know roughly where this comes from.
“We also noticed that there were chants yesterday; we are not deaf. In such a case, the referee is leading in whether or not to stop the game”, Spakenburg chairman Marc Schoonebeek responds.
He says that the second division club will work to address the perpetrators of their behavior. “We don’t have the technology to be able to see exactly who called what, but we do know roughly where it comes from,” says Schoonebeek. “We are going to confront those guys with that and then something has to come out of it.”
“We clearly showed PSV how uncomfortable we feel about this, because they thought it was outrageous. And of course we absolutely don’t want this anymore, because this is a blot on an otherwise successful football party.”
PSV midfielder Joey Veerman’s reaction made it clear that professional football players, however harsh it may sound, are now used to being in a football stadium. “When you are on the field, you get that some are a bit ugly to some players. I think that is a bit childish, but well, that’s part of it,” Veerman responded to Voetbal International.
Prosecutor can start disciplinary process
The KNVB has stated in a response that it condemns the behavior of the Spakenburgers. It is unclear whether the Football Association will launch an investigation.
“It is up to the home club to intervene in the event of disorder in their stadium,” says the football association. “After the game, the independent prosecutor can investigate whether this should have been done and what the arguments were. The prosecutor can then decide to start a disciplinary process against the club. The extent to which the club is committed to tracing perpetrators also plays a role in this. .”
The John Blankenstein Foundation, the foundation that aims to promote the acceptance of LGBTI people in top and recreational sports, is disappointed that “more decisiveness” was not shown during Spakenburg-PSV.
“Supporters can at least be held accountable for their behavior. If that doesn’t help, then it’s time for a match to be interrupted to make people think,” the foundation responds.
“Yesterday’s match was attended by 6,300 supporters and no fewer than 1.4 million people saw the game on TV. The chants could also be heard clearly for them. As long as nothing is done about this behavior, the climate in the football world will remain unsafe for LGBTI people. -people. More decisiveness from the KNVB and the clubs themselves is needed.”
