Players in various football clubs in Belgium are facing consequences for their involvement in lockdown parties.
On Tuesday, KV Ostend announced that the club had fired its goalkeeper, Fabrice Ondoa, after Ostend police broke up a lockdown party organised in Ondoa’s apartment, with around ten people not respecting coronavirus measures.
“As a football club, we cannot tolerate such selfish and irresponsible behaviour,” said KV Ostend CEO Gauthier Ganaye.
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Meanwhile, several players of KVC Westerlo, a club in the province of Antwerp, were caught at a lockdown party in Antwerp this weekend, with the club announcing an “appropriate sanction” for those involved, indicating that “the players concerned can expect a fine that will be donated in full to charity.”
The parties are just the latest in a series of lockdown parties broken up by the police. Federal Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has called for tougher fines for anyone organising or participating in a lockdown party, as those are currently set at €750 and €250 respectively, which Van Quickenborne deems too low to be an effective deterrent.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
