A Jewish group is suing football club Ajax and the mayor of Amsterdam for allegedly failing to take action against anti-Semitic chants in the ArenA stadium.

The case, brought by Ban Anti-Semitism (BAN), will be heard by an Amsterdam court on 17 October.

In August, a court in The Hague ruled in favour of the group in a case it had brought against football club ADO Den Haag. The court said any time people chanted the word “Jews”, in whatever form, the club had to intervene and, if necessary, suspend the match or stop it altogether. One of the lines BAN denounced as offensive was “whoever doesn’t jump is not a Jew”.

Every match, Ajax fans chant “Jews, Jews”; they wave Israeli flags and the hardcore supporters’ club F-Side has a blue Star of David as its logo. For decades Ajax has been seen as the Netherlands’ own Jewish club. But historians say the club barely has any Jewish roots at all. (More on Ajax' alleged Jewish roots)

BAN is also suing the mayor of Amsterdam for failing to enforce the professional football code Ajax has signed with the municipality.

(cl/tt)

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