“It’s not the same atmosphere at all”, assures a green vest, while a group of supporters dance to the traditional drum close to the Gare du Midi.
“It’s very good child. At the same time, there is no stake in the semi-final”, confides Yousseph, who is happy for his country. “We have shown that Morocco is a great footballing nation. An example for the Arab world in terms of sport”.
While my fifty or so supporters sang in the street, the police discreetly exfiltrated two young hooded people, “with the profile of a breaker”.
Slight tensions between young people and police, but no incident
The green vests were summoned to intervene on the Boulevard du Midi, where around twenty young people were squatting. The group dissolved, in a relative tension linked to the presence of the police at the corner. Some young people report a certain resentment towards the arrests following Morocco-France.
“I was taken into the combi. There was a dad of 3 children who had nothing to do with it. They took everyone to the Etterbeek police station until 4 a.m.”, explains a young person from the neighborhood, who was also shocked by the attack by a policeman on a Brussels resident rue Verbist in Saint-Josse. “He was bludgeoned, lying on the ground unconscious. And the cop left him there. He didn’t care at all”, continues the youngster.
“We have not made any arrests and no incident is to be deplored on the territory of the Brussels-Capital region”, communicated the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone. Traffic on Boulevard du Midi and on Boulevard Poincaré in Brussels had however been closed preventively, Saturday just following the end of the match, to allow the police to circumscribe any overflows. The Porte de Hal tunnel to the Gare du Midi had also been closed.
“After the match, there were a hundred people on Boulevard Lemonnier, and thanks to the presence of the ‘green vests’ (volunteers present among the revelers, editor’s note) everything remained calm. Around 6:45 p.m., traffic was restored “, said Ilse Van de Keere, spokesperson for the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone.
Antwerp did not experience any overflow at the end of the meeting either, even if the police made some administrative arrests, the latter said on Saturday evening.