Pilot project against racist football chants expanded to include ADO, FC Utrecht

Dutch football association KNVB and the national government have expanded the pilot project to combat racist and discriminatory chants during football matches with the help of smart technology. The project will now include the clubs ADO Den Haag and FC Utrecht.

Last summer, it was launched in the stadiums that host Feyenoord, PEC Zwolle and PSV football matches.

The aim of the project at ADO Den Haag and FC Utrecht is to provide audiovisual material with which perpetrators can be recognized more quickly. The basis of the solution was developed more than ten years ago together with TNO during testing at the ADO Den Haag stadium.

The technology is now being further developed in terms of quality and user-friendliness. It is expected to be easier to use in other stadiums. The portion of the pilot program at ADO Den Haag and FC Utrecht will run until the end of this year.

The project is part of the “Ons Voetbal Is Van Iedereen” plan from the national government, the KNVB, and both the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie, now called the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. The plan, which translates to Our Football Belongs to Everyone, is meant to tackle racism and discrimination in football.

The project was set up after an incident where FC Den Bosch supporters directed racist epithets and chants at former Excelsior player Ahmad Mendes Moreira at the end of 2019. At the time it turned out to be impossible to punish all perpetrators in Den Bosch due to a lack of evidence, because it was difficult to determine who had shouted remarks that could be considered criminally punishable.