Mayor Theo Weterings of Tilburg places the responsibility for violating the corona rules on the square near the Willem II football stadium on the partying football fans.
Mayor Theo Weterings of Tilburg places the responsibility for violating the corona rules on the square near the Willem II football stadium on the partying football fans.
“It is the responsibility of the people there that they have not adhered to the rules,” said Weterings on Friday morning in the NOS Radio 1 Journaal. In his own words, Weterings gave a permit for the meeting after consultation with the police and the judiciary because otherwise the fans would have come together anyway. “In any case, we had to assume that they would get together. We would like to know where they are going “said Weterings.
Weterings, also chairman of the Central and West Brabant Safety Region, gave a permit for the party at the stadium, where, according to him, about five hundred fans gathered on Thursday evening without keeping 1.5 meters away. They also sang, which is against the corona rules.
Police and boa unions are baffled about the choice of the Tilburg municipality. A spokesperson for the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital (ETZ) in Tilburg also regrets the state of affairs, she tells NU.nl: “It is bitter, because 1 kilometer away healthcare workers do everything they can to make corona patients better.”
When asked why he did not intervene, Weterings referred to the possible effects that such intervention would have entailed. “We leave the responsibility with the people. The supporters have endangered their own health and that of those around them.”
He does not know whether everyone who was on the square is also registered. Images show that everyone just walked through the opened gates without anyone being checked. “The risk is for them, they should have obeyed the rules,” Weterings responded.
