Poles, Senegalese fight in Antwerp after World Cup match

Dozens of soccer fans scuffled and threw chairs after a live screening at a Belgian outdoor cafe of Poland’s 2-1 upset defeat by Senegal on Tuesday at the World Cup in Russia.

A police spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday that one person was hurt in the incident in the port city of Antwerp but no arrests were made. Local newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen quoted police as saying some 40-50 people were involved.

Bar manager Johan Peeraer told the paper about 100 Poles and 30 Senegalese supporters were watching the game when things got tense towards the end: “A bit of an argument started outside and it got out of hand and people started throwing chairs,” he said.

Disturbances around the four-yearly global soccer festival have been rare, a week into the month-long tournament. 

Meanwhile, Lord Alan Sugar, the businessman once at the helm of the UK version of ‘The Apprentice’ TV show, has been condemned online for posting a controversial tweet about the Senegal World Cup team.

Sugar posted a photoshopped image of the team standing over a row of sunglasses and handbags along with the caption: “I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multi-tasking resourceful chaps.” The line is seemingly a reference to immigrant street-traders operating around Marbella, the resort town on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol.

The post was soon deleted after a number of people took offence, but Sugar was unrepentant. In what could only be described as a classic ‘non-apology apology,’ he said: “I think it’s funny. But I will pull it down if you insist.”

That tweet has also been deleted. A second apology, this one more solemn in tone, was posted to Twitter an hour later.

With Reuters report