The Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) has welcomed the decision of the Belgian authorities to give permission for the Unity Protest against the Charlton owner on Saturday, March 4th.
At least 200 Addicks fans are set to travel to Belgium, where they will now be joined by disgruntled Sint-Truiden supporters for a rally and march through the town.
Locals have just announced their own campaign group, GRAS, which is urging Duchatelet to run their club in a competitive way or sell up. Liaison between Charlton and Sint-Truiden fans has been ongoing for many months.
The decision to allow the protest was announced in the
local newspaper Het Belang van Limburg on Tuesday and follows liaison with the Metropolitan Police in London.
But the Charlton fans hit back at a bizarre statement by Duchatelet in the local paper claiming the protestors, whose numbers have run into several thousand at The Valley, are “a few hot heads who previously worked directly or indirectly for the club and who were shown the door due to their rebellious and rowdy attitude”.
He went on: “They also don't like the fact that I give [chief executive] Katrien Meire my support.”
A CARD spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the local authorities have recognised our right to protest in Sint-Truiden and will now work with them on the details to ensure that this a safe but effective demonstration. We are also grateful to the Met for their help.
“Duchatelet’s insistence that the protests are the work of a few dismissed former staff is self-evidently ludicrous, both in terms of the numbers demonstrating against him and the diverse range of people in CARD, Women Against the Regime and in other groups involved in the Sint-Truiden initiative, like the Belgium 20.
“People are protesting because they are passionate about Charlton and angry at the long-term damage being done to the club under his ownership and Katrien Meire’s management.
“Everybody involved is a Charlton fan of many years standing and none has ever been sacked by the club due to their rebellious and rowdy attitude. He either knows that this is a lie or he is being misled by other people. In either case, he should put up or shut up.”
Fans planning to travel to Belgium will leaflet the crowd at tonight’s Charlton home match against Oxford United to encourage other supporters to join them.
For details of how to join the protest in Belgium, email charlton.card@yahoo.co.uk.
Comments
The lie about bitter ex-emplyees is one he has used before, in a feeble attempt to counter dissent at STVV
He is never going to replace her.
You can join the protest for just £25 return by coach from Charlton.
It will be your only trek to Europe supporting Charlton under this owner.
Think of your children, will they have a football league club to support in the future ?
Gutted I can't go but it's my birthday and already got pre-arranged stuff going on. It's looking like it might be a birthday to remember though!
Note there is no mention of her being targeted because she is a woman; quite the reverse, in fact.
However, the article does say:-
One of her first tasks was to deal with the overall management of the club, which she said "was in a mess".
That meant sacking a number of club staff, something she was unused to doing and found painful at the time.
Perish the thought, but could it be that our incompetent CEO couldn’t even manage to sack someone without creating unnecessary ill-will???
I know Roland's sold them since but he's still getting money from them from sell on fees
Look at Michy Batshuayi Transfer. €40 million to Chelsea in the summer from Marseille. Standard had a 25% sell on fee but didn't see a penny as it when to Roland. and i;m sure there are others as well
I'd be a bit miffed if we missed out on a big chunk like that because of Roland. (and i expect it to happen when Gomez/Lookman/Cousins/Holmes-Dennis etc join bigger clubs for massive fees and CAFC don;t get a penny)
Would getting in contact with their supporters groups be possible, they are only down the road lol
Afternoon to my new friends in SE9.
What amazing insight she has. Having loads of shit managers and loads of shit players means that football clubs fail to perform their basic function of winning games. Who would have thought that eh?
When I visited them in November I also got the distinct impression that they are glad to be free of the nightmare and want to move on, while extending every sympathy and and moral support to us.
Probably best to leave it I would say. If 200 STVV fans join us it will probably already be the biggest demo of any kind that S-T has seen in living memory
In essence what she is saying is an admission that the regime is responsible for wasting millions of pounds on bad managerial appointments and useless players which resulted in relegation. Despite this she can't see what we are unhappy about.