All Top Flight Football Matches In Netherlands Pause For First Minute To Protest Against Racism

In a strong show of solidarity, all the top flight and second division football matches in Netherlands paused for the opening minute on Saturday in response to racism incident in the second tier last week.?

Last week the second tier in Dutch football witnessed disgraceful scenes as Excelsior winger Ahmad Mendes Moreira?was subjected to abuse at Den Bosch. The incident was rightly condemned with football clubs across the country registering their protests.??

AFP

And in the current match week, the players in the top two divisions refrained from playing for the first 60 seconds of their fixtures and applauded while the message 'Racism? Then we won't play football!' was displayed in the stadiums.

The action was agreed by the Eredevisie and the Keuken Kampioen Divisie (second tier) in collaboration with 34 professional clubs, the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) - which is investigating last weekend's incident - and other bodies.

Sky Sports

"This campaign is aimed at offensive singing from the stands and discrimination on (amateur) football pitches," read an explanation on the Eredivisie website.

"It is intended to make fans aware that football is for everyone, regardless of cultural background, religion or sexual preferences.

"The message: Racism? Then we are not going to play football! is also in line with the protocol that has been applied by football and club matches since 2016.

"In the case of offensive and discriminatory singing, the supporters are asked to stop their behavior. If the singing continues, the football will be stopped."

AP

It comes within a fortnight?when Netherlands national team players Georginio Wijnaldum and Frenkie de Jong, responded by pointing to the colour of their skin after the Liverpool midfielder opened the scoring in Holland's 5-0 win against Estonia on Tuesday.

Netherlands is showing the world how to stand united against racism.?