Smoke bombs on the ceiling, too few security personnel, and a confrontation between fans: this is how things went wrong at Patru Jong Genk | sports

Twenty minutes later, with the score 1-0 in favor of Patro Eisden, Patro coach Stijn Stijnen referred to the “match delegate” for misconduct in the stands. The supporters got very crazy and started fighting with each other. There were also fireworks involved. Referee De Beuckelaer made the decision very quickly to send everyone on. Stijnen tells the story to our editors: “I saw in front of me the Genk supporters' box and it was empty. I saw them walking behind the stands – I know the stadium well – and I know that they were communicating with our fans. Then I saw to my right how our supporters also came down the stairs. They were being stormed, right? About a hundred Genk's fans pushed down the fences – and they are solid fences – which inevitably led to a confrontation.

From Jenek's point of view, the story is a little different. Patro's supporters are said to have placed smoke bombs in the visitors' box and hung them from the ceiling. With the opening goal (Nobisi scored 1-0 after 13 minutes, ed.), Patro fans allegedly detonated one of those bombs from a distance, after which Genk fans began searching for a solution. Furthermore, the Genk fans would not have pushed the gate, but simply lifted it off its hinges.

Coach Patro Stejnen explains what happened next. “Our supporters protected the corner with all their lives and made sure that no storm occurred in the stands, which were full of children. There is no need to explain what could have happened next…”

It took more than twenty minutes for peace to return to Maasmechelen. The stadium announcer repeatedly explained to the fans that their behavior was unacceptable, just like the use of fireworks. In the event of a subsequent violation, the match will be permanently stopped. “The police also helped,” Stejnen says. “They set up a human wall, and then it stops. But you can't blame the police officers who weren't called. Then I look at the organization, the match rep, … they're always focused on the minute details — more on that later — but in the days “Recently, we heard rumors that 100 Risk Supporters were coming from Genk. Apparently, the other supporting clans were also going to band together to cause chaos. I don't know if that actually happened. But the facts are there.”

In Genk, they seemed to have prepared for the match in terms of security services – which was considered a high-risk match. Genk is said to have taken 27 hosts to Maasmechelen while Patro had 17 – including some from Genk. From Genk's side they wonder whether Patro has armed himself sufficiently as a club.

What should happen next? “I think the police have taken over,” Stejnen says. “At some point, the competition moved to the second stage. This means that no one – outside the police – has any say in the matter. Reports will be written by the police.”

Let us return to the details of the match representative that Stegen was talking about. “If you had to answer a few things…and I'm quoting the match rep verbatim: 'The visiting locker room smells like a bathroom and must smell like a backsplash.' What do we do then? Especially why bother with that while we're getting ready? It's got to show Respect, but respect has to come from both sides. We're a little tired of that. If really serious things happen in a match, the pen will tremble when they have to report it.