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Gent –
Fortunately, the time when jungle sounds were made in the Otten Stadium is long behind us. ‘Supporters’ of KAA Gent still leave racist comments on social media. The club calls on real fans to take screenshots of this.
Young supporters may no longer imagine it, but there was a time when football fans could sing about monkeys and bananas in a stadium with impunity. Fortunately, that open racism does not occur today in the Planet Group arena, the stadium of KAA Gent. Anyone who still dares to do so is immediately reprimanded by other fans.
Unfortunately, some ‘supporters’ still show their burnt side on social media. The KAA Gent supporters council received several reports of hate and racism in the response section of the club’s social media channels. It also happens on Facebook groups that are not managed by the club. The comments would not be systematically removed and the question was whether action would be taken by the club.
TikTok
Wim Beelaert of the KAA Gent Foundation says that every complaint is responded to systematically and underlines the importance of screenshots. “Unfortunately, those responsible cannot see everything that is said on social media. If you see hate speech yourself, report it, go to the police or share it with the club or the KAA Gent Foundation. And take a screenshot as proof.”
The KAA Gent Foundation itself takes screenshots to the police and there are QR codes in the Planet Group arena so that supporters can easily file a complaint via the football association. Spokesman for KAA Gent Tom Vandenbulcke says that the club is also tackling racism decisively. “We recently received compliments about this after an incident on TikTok. Unfortunately, sometimes a comment slips through the cracks.”
