On Friday, Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius criticized Moroccan football fans for their clashes with police across the Netherlands after their team’s World Cup loss to France.
“One by one, countries are knocked out. That’s what a football tournament is all about. We’re disappointed, but we move on with our lives. Except for these ‘supporters.’ Whether they win or lose, they act like madmen,” the leader of the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) wrote on X.
“Don’t you feel ashamed that this is how the world sees you?” Yeşilgöz asked.
According to Dutch media, several incidents occurred as Moroccan fans took to the streets in various cities on Thursday night after their team was defeated 2-0 by France in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Fans hurled glass bottles at the police, leading anti-riot officers to disperse crowds, as reported by the daily newspaper De Telegraaf.
In Rotterdam, police faced egg attacks, while in Amsterdam, rioters allegedly launched fireworks at law enforcement and exhibited aggressive behavior toward journalists.
Yeşilgöz is recognized for her strict stance on migration. “There are too many people coming into our country,” she wrote on X last year before assuming her ministerial role. “This has to be different. And fast too.”
Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders also commented on the situation, criticizing Yeşilgöz’s VVD party — part of the governing coalition with Prime Minister Rob Jetten’s liberal D66 party and the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) — for allowing what he described as “scum” into the country.
This is not the first instance of unrest following a Morocco match. After Morocco’s win over the Netherlands in the Round of 32, police in The Hague arrested 13 individuals for public violence or disorder. Earlier in the year, following disturbances linked to the Africa Cup of Nations final, authorities in The Hague detained 14 more people.
