FC Groningen threatens to report journalist who wants to show how to avoid stadium ban

FC Groningen threatens to press charges against a journalist who wants to bring a person with a stadium ban to Euroborg before the match against Ajax next Sunday. The media representative wants to demonstrate that it is possible to attend a match despite a stadium ban, the club reports.

On the football club’s website, FC Groningen doubts "whether the intentional circumvention of imposed measures serves the public interest and/or can be classified as 'investigative journalism'."

"FC Groningen makes every effort to keep people with stadium bans away," the Dutch football club said. "The club calls on the journalist to abandon his plan, as it does not contribute to solving the problems related to the enforcement of stadium bans. The deliberate infiltration of this person sends an undesirable signal."

The journalist would potentially be guilty of a criminal offense, according to FC Groningen. "Both disobeying a stadium ban and inciting it is punishable," said the club, which has already reported the scheme to the police and the KNVB.

FC Groningen, relegated from the Eredivisie this season after 23 years, has had to deal with a lot of harassment from fans this year. Among other things, the match against NEC was permanently interrupted after a linesman was hit by a beer mug, fans came onto the pitch during the match against SC Cambuur, and defender Jetro Willems was punched by one of his own supporters.