Antwerp City may be heading into a Croky Cup semi-final derby if Beerschot eliminate Anderlecht this evening. And if that happens, Bart De Wever has a plan, which will not please the fans.
Bart De Wever is not a big football fan, we know that. Last October, he had already had to deplore the behavior of the Beerschot supporters during the Antwerp derby, which had to be interrupted when the score was largely in favor of Antwerp. Smoke bombs and pyrotechnic devices had been thrown onto the field.
The mayor of the City of Antwerp would have liked at the time to be able to ban this derby a priori, which we knew given the situation at Beerschot was likely to be tense. Now, two even hotter derbies could well be held, since Beerschot can reach the semi-finals of the Cup if they eliminate RSC Anderlecht this Thursday evening.
Beerschot-Antwerp at… 1:30 p.m. on a Wednesday?
And if that happens, Bart De Wever has everything planned. There is no question of the match being held at the scheduled time, namely no earlier than 6:45 p.m. to allow supporters to go to the stadium after work. A municipal measure requires that matches be held during the day in order to facilitate security: this means a kick-off at 1:30 p.m…. on a Wednesday.
-“In the past, Antwerp derbies always took place in broad daylight, as this is necessary to ensure that high-risk matches take place as safely as possible,” explains Johan Vermant, spokesperson for Mayor De Wever, In The Latest News.
Faced with this promise, Antwerp fans reacted via the Antwerp Supporters’ Federation: “It’s unachievable. Or else, we will send 650 children, who are free on Wednesday afternoon”, quips Dominik Van Landeghem, president of the federation .
