Over 150 football fans detained in Amsterdam for anti-Semitism

The Amsterdam police have detained 154 fans of Dutch football club Alkmaar Zanstrek (or AZ) for collectively singing anti-Semitic songs in a subway.

According to the police, they were arrested for group insult, the local news service NL Times reports.

As a result, the subway, which was heading to the Johan Cruijff ArenA, was stopped at Strandvliet station around 7:30 p.m. Ajax played a home match against AZ on May 6 evening, which ended without a goal.

The police reported that the AZ supporters were warned several times to stop. In addition, some supporters, it is unknown how many, also allegedly committed acts of vandalism. However, no further details are yet known about this.

The football club condemned the behaviour of some of its supporters prior to Saturday's game with Ajax in Amsterdam.

"AZ rejects and condemns the fact that a small section of its supporters uttered hurtful speech chants on their way to the stadium on Saturday [May 6] night," the club wrote on its website.

"The club strongly disapproves of inflammatory behaviour and discrimination in any form and emphatically distances itself from those who were guilty of this," it said.

The club said it is awaiting the investigation: "We are logically providing all the cooperation that is requested in this regard."

In response to the incident, Central Jewish Consultation chairman Chanan Hertzberger said: "The Central Jewish Consultation is satisfied with the decision to intervene and directly combat anti-Semitism."