Union Berlin fans are not welcome in Leuven or around the Den Dreef Stadium on Thursday when their club takes on Union Saint-Gilloise in a Europa League match. The decision to make these areas off-limits for supporters of the German club was taken by Leuven Mayor Mohamed Ridouani and confirmed by the city’s police. The decision is made to prevent “troublemakers” from entering the area around their stadium.But that’s not all. Local police warned all Germans that they would be arrested if those without tickets should make the 730 kilometres trip from Berlin to Leuven.Union Berlin fans launching fireworks at Malmo fans. Game suspended. pic.twitter.com/6n49NWY5fo— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) October 6, 2022 After the riots in the match against Malmo on the last matchday, UEFA banned the Berlin club from selling guest tickets for the last group match. On top of that, they were fined 40,000 euros for heavy pyro use. Supporters of the Eisern Union burned fireworks and threw them onto the field, and firecrackers also flew from the home area. The game was interrupted for almost half an hour. Now, there is fear in Belgium that the Germans would again cause trouble at the match against the Belgian champions.Union filed a lawsuit to the Belgian Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, to have the ban on entry during the Europa League away game in Leuven revoked.##NAJAVA_MECA_6777506##Union’s president Dirk Zingler issued a statement to protest the Belgians’ decision, saying that it goes against citizen freedoms and goes against “Because of what happened in Malmo, UEFA fined us. Part of that punishment was that we were not allowed to sell tickets to our fans for our last Europa League group game against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. We accepted this punishment because we know our responsibility for what happened in Malmo. From our point of view, however, the decree of the mayor of Leuven is absolutely disproportionate. It overrides fundamental rights and is contrary to both the European idea and the idea of UEFA to hold competitions across national borders.” EUROPA LEAGUEGroup stage – Round 6Thursday20:45: (1.73) Monaco (3.90) Crvena Zvezda (5.50)20:45: (3.35) Sociedad (3.40) Man.Utd. (2.35)20:45: (1.99) Sheriff Tiraspol (3.50) Omonia (4.40)20:45: (2.40) Feyenoord (3.50) Lazio (3.15)20:45: (2.09) Midtjylland (3.50) Sturm (3.90)20:45: (3.10) Olympiakos (3.25) Nantes (2.42)20:45: (2.04) Qarabag (3.60) Freiburg (4.00)20:45: (1.62) Trabzon (4.00) Ferencvaros (6.00)23:00: (1.21) Arsenal (8.00) Zurich (14.0)23:00: (3.40) Bodo (3.60) PSV (2.24)23:00: (4.30) Dynamo Kyiv (3.50) Fenerbahce (1.93)23:00: (1.24) Rennes (6.75) AEK Larnaca (14.0)23:00: (1.38) Roma (5.50) Ludogorets (9.50)23:00: (1.29) Betis (6.50) Helsinki (10.0)23:00: (1.34) Braga (5.50) Malmo (10.0)23:00: (4.20) St.Gilloise (3.60) Union Berlin (1.99)***odds are subject to change***
