The Second Division football club Beerschot is to take action after some of its fans hung up a banner displaying a racist symbol during the club’s away match at Seraing on 11 November. During the match some of the visiting Beerschot supporter hung up a banner displaying an old club logo next to a “white power” symbol. Those that adhere to racist “white power” ideology believe that white people are superior to members of other racial groups.
Beerschot now intends to make it clear to its supporters that this kind of symbol has no place inside a football ground and that any repeat of the incident will not be tolerated.
On Saturday 11 November Beerschot took on Seraing in the Challenger Pro League (the Belgian Second Division). Some of the supporters that travelled the just over 100 kilometres to watch the match chose to unveil a banner that has little to do with football and that many others inside and outside the stadium will have found deeply offensive. The banner that was hung up on the fence that separates the supporters stand from the pitch was adorned with a “White Power” logo. The police drafted a crime report regarding the banner and the Belgian Football Association has also compiled a report on the incident.
In a statement Beerschot’s spokesman Luther Rommens told journalists that "We are going to contact the supporters that were involved and we will talk to them. Above all we intend to make it clear to them that these symbols don’t belong in a stadium. Secondly we want to ensure that this never happens again”.
The club says that the banner has never been displayed during any of its home matches.