Wednesday, 16 March 2016 - 12:07
Video: PSV fans hurl change, insults at Madrid paupers
With additional reporting by Zack Newmark.
A group of PSV supporters caused a commotion in the Spanish capital of Madrid on Tuesday by throwing money at a number of female beggars and cheering as the women scrambled for the coins. The women were also instructed to attempt pushups or dance for their change by the Eindhoven football team's supporters.
Video footage of the incident caused quite a stir, especially on social media. At one point a woman is made to get down on her hands and knees and do a push-up until she face touched the ground in exchange for change tossed at her. A man tried to intervene, but the Dutch were unimpressed and continued their antics.
Miquel Ramos, who posted much of the footage on Twitter, asked PSV for a response. "Nothing to say?" he tweeted at the club. The PSV promptly responded: "PSV strongly disapproves of this kind of behavior".
The football club's general director Toon Gerbrands also responded, calling the behavior "scandalous". "It unfortunately happens that individuals damage the image of a whole group of real supporters. Scandalous", he tweeted.
"They were treated like animals, and the women nearly struck each other and pushed each other for the coins to the laughter of the Dutch," Miguel Ángel Rendón, a professor at one Madrid university, told Spanish newspaper El País. "And the last straw was when they threw hunks of bread," he added.
Police officers walking the beat broke up the scene. One witness angrily called the PSV fans "bastards."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZsMuEeg8Ss&feature=youtu.be
https://twitter.com/pablo_vande/status/709768674962440192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Miquel_R/status/709741882075652097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/pablo_vande/status/709771101354795008