Authorities inside the Netherlands are attempting to crack down on fan violence surrounding soccer matches. 



High-ranking Dutch police figures are attempting to bar certain foreign fans from attending games inside the country. This ban would essentially be for supporters of clubs that previously showed violent tendencious on Dutch soil.



The call comes from Amsterdam police chief Frank Paauw. The official directly cites an incident during a recent matchup between <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/az-alkmaar-tv-schedule-for-us-viewers/">AZ Alkmaar</a> and <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/legia-warsaw-tv-schedule/">Legia Warsaw</a>. 



Select traveling Legia fans clashed with Dutch police before the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/conference-league-tv-schedule/">Europa Conference League</a> game on October 5th. A police officer was even allegedly knocked unconscious during the brawl. Two Legia players were also then <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/legia-warsaw-duo-arrested-following-az-alkmaar-defeat-20231006-WST-460813.html">arrested</a> following the match as well.



<h2>Chief of police cites safety as main reason for potential ban</h2>



“The direct reason for our call is that in a short time around Europe, a number of violent incidents have occurred consecutively during football matches,” Paauw <a href="https://www.politie.nl/binaries/content/assets/politie/nieuws/2023/oktober/brief-oproep-misdragende-supporters-231013.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stated</a> in a letter to area mayors. 



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<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Polish football fans are outraged and the Polish PM is asking for “urgent diplomatic action” after Legia players were handcuffed, and the club’s president Dariusz Mioduski was pushed by Dutch police following the game against AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.<a href="https://t.co/pYyXMVPJgP">pic.twitter.com/pYyXMVPJgP</a>— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1710314647897653472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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“Despite that we saw a slight decrease in the total number of violent incidents last season in professional football, our colleagues are increasingly confronted with coordination and organized violent supporter violence.”



“There is more extreme and more organized violence, in which the police increasingly appear to be targeted. That was the case in the most recent incident on October 5th. The riot police colleagues were not only physically attacked, in which one officer was kicked unconscious, but weapons of violence were also taken from them.”



<h2>Legia fans first target of ban by Dutch police</h2>



Paauw claims that the decision ultimately comes down to safety. This includes police officers, those involved in the games, as well as local residents. Due to potential violent incidents during matches, police officers can’t perform their regular duties. 



Legia fans will be the first target for Paauw and Dutch authorities. The police chief believes the Polish club’s supporters should be completely banned from the Netherlands. Legia fans will travel to England, as their club will face <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/aston-villa-tv-schedule/">Aston Villa</a> in November.



Photo credit: IMAGO / ANP

Dutch police want a nationwide ban on violent foreign supporters

A Dutch police chief is calling on a nationwide ban for foreign soccer fans that have been previously violent

Dutch police want a nationwide ban on violent foreign supporters - =

<div id="attachment_917" style="width: 476px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2010/09/fans.jpg"><div><figure class="external-image"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-917" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-917" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2010/09/fans.jpg" alt="" width="466" height="316"></figure></div></a>"Alright lads - on three..."</div>
Oh god. This is a bit of a pet peeve for me, it’s not really a heated debate as such but it’s something that grinds on me and when you realise what I’m talking about, it’ll probably grind on you to. In fact it’s something that should be argued, because it’s usually the opening for ridiculous statements in football debates that no one ever really thinks to question. We all have a mate (or mates) that usually flare up debates and love to attack rival fans, I live in the North East and there is a mixture of Newcastle and Sunderland fans all about – we never agree on anything. And pretty much every debate that occurs includes at some point the opening line of “your fans…”. Meaning of course that fans are generalised into one group, one way of thinking, feeling and support.
You’ve heard all the stereotypes – Man Utd fans are all from Croydon, Millwall fans are all hooligans, Wigan fans are crap because they “can’t” fill their stadium, Newcastle fans are deluded, Chelsea fans are band-Waggoner’s, fans of Italian teams go around stabbing everybody, Liverpool fans will knick your car stereo etc. I know a lot of the time these jibes are made all in banter and with a bit of fun, but you’d be surprised how many people believe these things and it often leaves people making ridiculous assumptions on people based on what club they support.
I got into one of these arguments not too long ago, someone I know who is a Sunderland fan challenged me, he said that “Newcastle fans are crap, all the atmosphere is gone and you think you’re still a big club – but you’re not! Sunderland are the biggest team in the North East now.” At first I was debating&nbsp;all these points until all of a sudden I just started thinking to myself “hang on a second, this guy has just generalised all fans of my team into one voice and one mould – that can’t be right. I’m not the same as everyone else who supports this club”. And then it really started to get to me, looking on Internet stories regarding Newcastle there are people from other clubs who are saying things like “beat Villa 6-0 and they’re back to being deluded thinking they will get into Europe now – thick Geordie so and so’s”. Apparantly all of us Toon fans have invented telekenisis.
Why it bugs me is that I know that isn’t me. I’m not deluded, there are some Newcastle fans that are a bit over optimistic but those supporters exist in pretty every club. I was at the game against Villa and I left the stadium in a jubilant mood – the reason most Newcastle fans were in this jubilant mood was because we’d just beaten a team that challenges at the top of the table by 6 goals! Wouldn’t you be happy if your team did that? There are people that think we will go down and that is fair, we just came up and I know we’re in for a tough ride this season, but when you’re fighting relegation you have to be optimistic for your team’s chances at the start of the season – nothing wrong with that really. When I go to St. James I see people around me making a lot of noise, but there’s also people who won’t make much noise in the match, but that is fair. And yeah, I know that my team has just come back up and we’re not going to stomp our boot down and storm into Europe – I’d love us to get 17th place and anything above that is a bonus!
A lot of fans will believe everything they hear, when a pundit opens their mouth or someone with influence, they’ll go along with it because people model themselves on others; if you read or hear something that is influencing then you’re going to take that on as your own opinion most likely. The media in England are really bad for this sort of thing, the amount of social control they have is scary. Stereotypes are important for the human mind, they help generalise information so that we have to do as little cognitive processing as possible, we can retrieve this information as freely as we blink and you’d be surprised how quickly you form an opinion on someone based on the information you’re given when speaking to them. What football team you support can also play an impact on what people think of you, I introduced one of my mates to another when I was at University and one of them was a Man Utd fan from London. The encounter didn’t last long, but my other mate didn’t really feel he was a real football supporter just because of he was a Londoner supporting Man Utd. He had taken a well known footballing norm and applied it freely without much thought or questioning.
But what about you? Do you want to be known as someone who goes along with the crowd? When you think about it, do you agree with everything your fellow supporters say? I know I don’t, I’m a person who likes to take time to form my own opinion and I believe that everyone has a right to support their club in whatever way they chose and they are free to have their opinion. I know a lad who lives me that supports Man Utd and he won’t have a bad word said against them – he is quite biased in his support but that is how he chooses to support his team and it doesn’t really bother me as long as I know I have my own way of expressing my support. With this in mind, it has made me into a person that won’t use the argument opener “your fans…” and I won’t criticize a body of fans just because of a general consensus made by the world of football. Yeah some clubs don’t fill their stadium, but does that mean that the people who do go are all terrible fans too? Do they deserve that label? Of course they don’t. Just because Sky Sports asks a (very) select sample of supporters their opinion on club matters, does that mean everyone else holds those opinions? No it doesn’t. Stereotypes are always going to exist, but I’ve always wondered how easy it would be to break most of them down, in my mind all fans are different and I don’t want one thing I hear to form the opinion on the next supporter. Why should the opinion of the majority effect that of the minority?

Great Football Debate: #2 "Republic Of The Fans"

Great Football Debate: #2 "Republic Of The Fans" - World Soccer Talk

When you go to watch your team you often meet characters like this, but it isn’t too often you get to capture it on film. A sneaky QPR fan turned his attention away from the 3-1 defeat to League Two outfit Port Vale and captured a Rangers fan who was attempting to let Neil Warnock know his feelings from a distance. It’s not clear if the players got the message, but the man a few rows behind heard it loud and clear. Credit for finding this must of course go firstly to the uploader 10wal, but also to my mate Rich who posted this on facebook. He is a Brighton fan, so I’m probably guessing that he got it from their message board <a href="http://northstandchat.com/">North Stand Chat</a>. Good capture Seagulls.

QPR Fan Loses His Cool After League Cup Exit To Port Vale

QPR Fan Loses His Cool After League Cup Exit To Port Vale - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-439" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2009/04/cardiff.jpg" alt="cardiff" width="425" height="266"></figure></div>There were some tremendous games at all levels of British football on Sunday. Cardiff and Swansea battled out a thrilling 2-2 draw. Luton gave the Football League a poke in the eye by winning a wonderful Johnstone Paint Trophy Final 3-2 against Scunthorpe. And finally we had the gasp-inducing 3-2 stormer at Old Trafford.
It was just a shame that fan behaviour cast such a pall over the whole day.
Like many fans I was disgusted with the throwing of the coin that injured referee Mike Dean in the Welsh derby, but I’ve been just as concerned by the reaction of key figures from both clubs.
Peter Ridsdale, Cardiff Chairman, said:
<blockquote>“We’ve now identified an individual who threw a coin, we believe it’s the individual whose coin hit the referee… assuming it’s the right individual he will be banned for life.” </blockquote>
Well, that’s good to know. But it wasn’t ‘an individual’ it was many individuals. The few seconds of footage surrounding the moment Mike Dean was hit clearly shows several items landing near the referee, while Swansea captain Garry Monk has claimed objects were being thrown throughout the match. Cardiff fans have commednably been more open than Ridsdale, speaking of witnessing a number of individuals throwing objects onto the pitch ranging from coins to lighters.
Does Ridsdale think that getting rid of this one person somehow solves the problem? Moreover, was this individual more guilty for hitting the referee than anyone else who tried but missed?
Cardiff manager Dave Jones said:
<blockquote>“I hope the club don’t suffer serious repurcussions as it was only one person and there were 20,000 people here… It’s ridiculous as I thought those days were long gone.”</blockquote>
Only one person, Dave? Really? And you thought those days were long gone? Good job the police didn’t share your view or they might not have sent those 450 officers to Ninian Park to try and minimise trouble between the fans.
What weasel words by both of these people. I would expect more of Jones in particular, but perhaps he is just trying to protect the club. If that is the case then he has been shown up by the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust who condemned the ‘mindless idiots’ (notice the plural) and for those Cardiff fans who stood up and pointed out the offenders at the time. If only club officials were so forthright.
It is unfair that the whole club should be tainted by this, but football must not continually attempt to hide the truth. Whenever there is violence at a game we are fed the same line about how “these people are not football fans” – well, who are they then? There can be no doubt things have moved forward over the last 20 years, but problems still exist. Every club still has their trouble-makers.
In the midst of all this you might expect Swansea to act with quiet dignity, but manager Roberto Martinez, a good, honest, likable man, a successful coach and a very decent TV pundit, has waded in with some ill-advised comments of his own:
<blockquote>“You don’t want to see coin throwing incidents like that but looking at the overall performance of the referee maybe he was affected by it… you work all week not to get emotional performances from your players and you drop two points because of an emotional decision by a referee.”</blockquote>
In one sense, Martinez is right – Cardiff’s late penalty for the equaliser was probably the wrong decision – but to show such callous disregard of the referee’s health beggars belief. He had been hit in the end, no more than a few centimetres from his eye, yet made little fuss and carried on refereeing the game – on the whole very well. It seems incredible that rather than blaming the fan for his actions he suggests that the referee failed to deal with the situation adequately. I wonder what Martinez’s reaction might have been had his goalkeeper received a blow to the head. Would he have publicly blamed him for dropping a cross and for becoming too emotional?
The fallout from this will undoubtedly continue for some time, but what sort of punishment should be meted out by the Football Association? Ridsdale has a point in that it seems unfair to punish Dave Jones’ team for the actions of some of the fans. Cardiff have improved the image of the club in recent years and so a fine or a points deduction seems ill-fitting.
Perhaps the FA must leave it to the club to identify as many of these coin-throwers as possible and have them thrown out of all football grounds for good, but while Ridsdale continues to suggest it was only one person, this is not a problem that will disappear any time soon. In the meantime, football officials need to start being a little more honest when it comes to assessing the behaviour of some fans.

How Should Cardiff Be Punished For Coin-Throwing Incident?

How Should Cardiff Be Punished For Coin-Throwing Incident? - World Soccer Talk

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Dutch police want a nationwide ban on violent foreign supporters

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How Should Cardiff Be Punished For Coin-Throwing Incident?