Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium, Sweden abandoned after shootings

The Euro 2024 qualification match between Belgium and Sweden was called off on Monday after a shooter killed two supporters before the game began.

Over 35,000 supporters attended the game, which was being played about five km from the massacre in Brussels.

Belgian authorities kept people inside the stadium for nearly three hours as the suspect remained at large and apparently went after Swedes.

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The evacuation began about midnight local time.

After the game was called off, fans inside the King Baudouin Stadium screamed “All together, all together,” with hundreds of fans on both sides also yelling “Sweden, Sweden!”

According to Manu Leroy, CEO of the Belgian football union, “it was decided in the first place that the match should go ahead because the stadium was the safest place to be at the time, so the fans could stay here and be safe.”

Eric Van Duyse, spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office, told reporters the investigation was centering on “a possible terrorist motivation for the shooting.”

Kanyidaily recalls that UEFA has postponed Israel Euro 2024 qualifier due to ongoing war.