The football match between RWD Molenbeek and Eupen was abruptly halted after 84 minutes due to pyrotechnic objects being hurled onto the Edmond Matchens stadium pitch on Sunday.
The game was definitively suspended by the referee as Molenbeek fans refused to cease their protest against the club and players. Sunday's fan trouble has plunged the club into further crisis despite its return to the top tier of Belgian football this season.
Playing the German-speaking Eupen, Molenbeek were losing 0-1 in the game after Renaud Emond’s 58th-minute goal. In the 84th minute, referee Nathan Verboomen was forced to halt the proceedings following firecrackers and blasts were being thrown from the stands and onto the pitch from the RWDM stands.
RWDM's supporters throwing firecrackers Credit Belga / John Thys
Initially, the referee asked the captains to try to calm the fans, then sent everyone back to their changing rooms.
The 22 players returned to the field after roughly 20 minutes, only to retreat once more as more objects were thrown onto the pitch.
The tense match took place following RWDM’s unceremonious elimination from the Belgium Cup quarterfinals in Oostende on Wednesday, with growing anger at the management of the club and the player performances.
On Saturday, around 50 RWDM supporters had threatened to disrupt the match if their team suffered a defeat against Eupen. A video emerged online before the game showing a group up of middle-aged men, led by a skinhead, aggressively confronting the players outside the players training ground.
With RWDM heading for a home defeat in the game on Sunday evening, the fans were true to their word and began their protest, plunging RWDM further into crisis.
Rwdm's Othman El Ouamari and Rwdm's Florian Yves Le Joncour. Credit Belga / John Thys
If RWDM’s defeat is officially confirmed, the Brussels club would remain stuck in the relegation zone, ranking 13th with 21 points and allowing Eupen, ranked 14th, to close the gap to just three points.
The RWDM-Eupen match is set to resume on Wednesday, 15:00 in an empty stadium, announced Lorin Parys, CEO of Pro League to Belga on Monday.
