The chairman of Antwerp football club Maccabi Haïm Seror has denied the Antwerp club was considering requesting a postponement of its youth matches following the violent incidents in Amsterdam. He insists nobody at the club that draws many of its players from the Jewish community is worried anti-Jewish violence could spill over the border to Antwerp.
Maccabi chair: "We are not afraid. We have a good relationship with other clubs.”
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Earlier it was reported that Maccabi, part of the port city’s vibrant Jewish community, was considering whether it wanted to request a postponement for its youth matches. This has now been denied. Club secretary Marcel Van Hees, who has been active at the Jewish football club for over 30 years, was quoted as saying: "Parents are afraid of what could happen. The hatred and violence in Amsterdam seem to be blowing over to Antwerp."
Maccabi chairman Haïm Seror says: "We are not afraid. We have a good relationship with other clubs. By the way, there are also non-Jewish players playing here, even Muslims. We have even experienced it, after matches, that the other club treated us to cake afterwards."
Haïm Seror denies any talk of considering requesting a postponement out of security concerns: "We may have had to postpone a match due to a lack of players, but not because people are afraid, but because a few players are injured or unable to go due to work, for example."
Club secretary Van Hees has been playing for Maccabi in Antwerp football for decades. Has he noticed more anti-Semitism on the sidelines lately? "We know what they say about us. That used to be the case, and it's still the case now. I don't necessarily hear greater comment, not even since the conflict in Gaza. But it happens. We now even have a complaint about a referee who overstepped the mark."
Maccabi is a football team of Jewish Antwerp residents that was founded in 1920 and currently plays in the 4th provincial division. The club has around 150 members. "Everyone is welcome, but the youth teams are almost exclusively made up of children from the Jewish community. The first team is more mixed in profile," says Van Hees. In addition to its own football club, KSC Maccabi-Antwerp also has divisions for basketball, tennis and almost 10 other sports.
The club strictly follows Jewish faith rules. "For example, we never play on Saturday, the Sabbath. Yet that is the fixed day for other than first team matches in Flanders. For years, I have had to consult with the opponent every week and hope for their goodwill to play on Thursday," sighs Van Hees. "The football association does not want to take this into account."