Soccer (illustration)
Soccer (illustration)iStock

The Club Brugge soccer team based in Bruges, Belgium is facing sanctions after its supporters allegedly made antisemitic chants during a recent game against Belgian rival Anderlecht.

The sanctions commission of the Royal Belgian Football Association has launched an investigation into antisemitic and racist remarks fans shouted during the game, Nieuwsblad reported.

At the beginning of the match, supporters could be heard from the stands chanting “He who does not jump is a Jew,” an antisemitic taunt that has become commonplace with some Brugge supporters.

This is the third time this season that Club Brugge has been investigated for antisemitic chants.

In May, Brugge player Noa Lang was seen in a video singing with fans after a match against Anderlecht that he would “rather die than be a Jew.”

The reference to Jews, according to Belgian sports papers, was about supporters and players of Anderlecht, whom rival teams refer to as “Jews.” The same phenomenon exists for Amsterdam’s Ajax team, the Hot Spurs club of Tottenham in the United Kingdom and Bayern, Munich’s soccer club.

Ignoring calls to apologize, Lang wrote that he didn’t mean to offend but would not like to further discuss the subject.

During a match in Bruges on August 26, fans chanted about burning Jews, according to La Derniere Heure.

The video showed dozens of fans celebrating their local team’s victory over Anderlecht that day by singing in Flemish: “My father was in the commandos, my mother was in the SS, together they burned Jews ’cause Jews burn the best.”

After being investigated for antisemitic chants during a recent match against Sint Truident, Brugge was given a conditional fine of 2,000 euros. Belgian media reported that the fine may now be imposed on the team.