200 FC Utrecht fans protest against "collective punishment" for the riots in May

About 200 people participated in a protest march in the city center of Utrecht because they were angry about the city council's decision not to allow fans to attend FC Utrecht's first home match. They marched in protest from the city hall to the Ledig Erf on the south side of the city center. The club's owner, Frans van Seumeren, was also seen at the protest.

The FC Utrecht supporters carried flags and a large banner with texts such as "Against all collective punishment." However, the protest stayed peaceful. The police were present in large numbers but did not have to intervene anywhere. Several Utrecht songs were sung during the protest march.

The frustration of the supporters was also directed at Mayor Dijksma. "Sharon Dijksma, fuck off" and "Sharon out of the city" were heard several times. The protest ended at Ledig Erf. Many fans then made their way to the terrace.

FC Utrecht will play at home against PEC Zwolle on Sunday afternoon. By order of Mayor Dijksma, no fans are welcome there. She imposed the fine because of the fan riots at the end of May. At that time, FC Utrecht lost the decisive match to qualify for the preliminary round of the Conference League. Riots broke out in the stadium during the match against Go Ahead Eagles. Afterwards, riots broke out outside the stadium, and the mobile unit was pelted with fireworks, stones, and bicycles, among other things. One officer ended up in hospital.

Dijksma then decided to impose the measure to bring more calm to the city and prevent further riots caused by the football fans. "The pressure on our officers has been enormous for weeks and the sum of the physical and verbal violence they constantly have to deal with is taking a very heavy toll on them." Dijksma has, therefore, appealed for calm. "It is really essential to find calmer waters together because this situation is no longer sustainable. We can no longer sustain this together," the Utrecht mayor said in May.

According to the supporter groups, this is an "absurd measure." "Dijksma wants to punish 23,000 supporters for the actions of a small group," the supporters argue. "This is unacceptable! At a time when we are all campaigning for the normalization of (away) fans in professional soccer, the mayor is now choosing an absurd measure to aggressively make her point."