Criminal behaviour will most likely remain unpunished...

It's not the first time a game between Standard and Anderlecht end into a horrific event. Hopefully, appropriate measures will be taken by the Belgian Football Association to bring this to an end once and for all...


A history lesson:

During the season of 2008-2009, test games between Anderlecht and Standard decided over the title. After a draw in Anderlecht, Standard took the advantage for the second leg in Liège. That game never really stood a chance to live up to its promise. The game was transformed into a boxing match. Boussoufa broke his jaw and eventually Anderlecht lost the title.

One year later, Axel Witsel broke Wasilewski's leg in the Vanden Stock Stadium. Another shameful event that cast a shadow over what should have been a top match. The match ended on a 1-1 draw. Anderlecht won the title that season.

This time, Anderlecht's team was intimidated by the dangerous situations in Liège. Firecrackers, smoke bombs and fireworks rained down over Proto's goal. Aggressive fans were barely kept under control. The game was stopped for 7 minutes and then resumed, when the situation clearly was not under control yet. After this event, the game changed completely. Also on the field, we saw dangerous fouls. On top of that, just 6 seconds of added time were counted.

The aftermath:

It seems that Anderlecht will not file a complaint against Standard though. In our opinion, the club should, seen the whole history. Though the Belgian Football Commission opened an investigation and Standard will have to justify the shameful actions of their fans on October 23. But we all already know, the lack of decisiveness of the Belgian Football Federation will result in no serious action against Standard and thus encouraging unsporting behaviour in our football league...

To quote Milan Jovanovic: "This is why Belgian football does not count in European games." We tend to agree...

On top of that, chief of referees, M. Jeurissen, indicated that continuing the game was the right thing to do. To quote Jeurissen: "It was the right thing to do. Who knows what the fans would have done when the match was stopped. After all, no one got injured."

As long as no one gets injured, it is permitted to throw burning objects towards the players? Fans are allowed to display aggressive behaviour, intimidate players and change the outcome of the game? Maybe we should offer Standard a new title then, just to please their fans? Who knows how they would react otherwise, right?