At the entrance for the match, a large group of Genk supporters violently broke through security and joined other supporters in the away section. They were not identified or searched, which posed significant safety risks. Therefore, all supporters had to be removed from the section to be checked. The KRC Genk board asked the supporters to do this voluntarily, but they refused. Subsequently, the police gave the supporters multiple chances to leave the section. When they did not comply and began using violence, the police had to intervene.
Part of the group of KRC Genk away supporters caused so much damage to the away section and its facilities that FC Utrecht deemed it irresponsible to admit the remaining away supporters. For this reason, it was decided to play the match without away fans and send the buses with away supporters back to Belgium.
The police always aim to act de-escalating. However, last night officers unfortunately again faced severe violence from the KRC Gent supporters. Riot police were pelted with broken chairs, among other things. For that reason, the riot police had to use force during the clearing of the away section to control the severe violence from the away supporters.