After the various incidents that occurred in Brussels following Morocco’s victory in the World Cup on Tuesday evening, Philippe Close, mayor of Brussels, was on our microphone in RTL Info 13h.
Is these outbursts were inevitable? When did the police need to intervene?
First, we must congratulate all those who celebrated in a respectful and friendly manner. But it’s true that we were present in numbers and hundreds of arrests took place well following the end of the match. My message is clear: if you want to come and party in Brussels, you are welcome, if you come to stir up trouble, you will have to deal with the police.
With each meeting of Morocco, this scenario is repeated: are you afraid of the next match, this Saturday?
I don’t work on fear, but on organization. I want to thank these “big brothers” once more who have set up human chains to prevent things from getting out of hand. I repeat, it is an extreme minority that tarnishes the image of the Belgian-Moroccan community. These “big brothers” are on our side and alongside the police. We will have the same system on Saturday, both if Morocco wins, or if Portugal wins, because we have a large Portuguese community as well. Those who stir up trouble will have to deal with the police.
If Morocco goes even further, what should we fear? What can you do in terms of prevention?
We continue to discuss with traders for example. Let me remind you: the vast majority of this community calls for calm and wants things to go well and that’s what happened in the last two games: there were isolated incidents which led to a very fast from the police, but once more, we must not put the thousands of supporters who had a positive party, in the same bag as a few thugs.