News that FC Mühlenbach will not serve alcohol at its ground and the refusal by FC Differdange to allow US Mondorf fans with drums access to its stadium have been major talking points. 

Fans attending football matches at the Mathias-Mamer-Stadion in the Bambesch will not be allowed to have a beer at half-time. The club, which last season won promotion to the National Division, the top league in Luxembourg football, has a strong Muslim membership.

FC Blue Boys Mühlenbach president Mersija Dragolovcanin said of the ban: “If we do that, yes, it’s about religion, but also because it’s illegal to sell alcohol on a stadium.” It is true that a special licence, easily obtained from the customs authorities, is required to sell alcohol at stadia. Beer, crémant and even some spirits are available at the majority of football grounds throughout the grand duchy.

The club has also banned pork products from the ground, but Dragolovcanin, the manager of a real estate agency, says that beef, veal and chicken imported from the Balkans are available.

The decision has sparked commentators such as Claude Molinaro in the Tageblatt to ask whether the mix of religion and sport will lead to separating male and female fans in the stadium.

Racism controversy

It’s not the first time Mühlenbach has been the centre of controversy. Back in April Tageblatt reported that a member of FC Rodange sent an SMS to Mühlenbach player Rachid Boulahfari (formerly of Rodange) suggesting that he had tried to bribe Rodange goalkeeper Joao Machado into allowing Mühlenbach to score. The SMS was racist in nature, said Paul Rauchs in the Land last Friday. That is indefensible, but last season this reporter witnessed several FC Mühlenbach second team players racially abusing players from FC Hamm Benfica in a senior reserve team match, and the referee had to take the players off for ten minutes to calm them down.

Angry Goats drummerless

Meanwhile, US Mondorf’s Angry Goats fanclub is still seething after some of its members carrying drums were refused entry to their away match against FC Differdange 03. The Angry Goats are renowned for bringing drums to charge up the atmosphere as they cheer on their team--they have even been likened to the fans of Iceland in their choreographed chants. But there is little love lost between fans of the two clubs and the incident at the entrance to the ground threatened to escalate before the Mondorf fans gave in.

At the request of Differdange club, a video posted to Facebook of the incident when the fans were told to leave their drums behind was also deleted by the Angry Goats. But they have promised a charged atmosphere for the return match in Mondorf next February.