The European Football Association (UEFA) decided to cancel the Belgium national team's match against its counterpart Sweden in the European Championship qualifiers for the 2024 European Nations Cup finals.
King Baudouin Stadium in the Belgian capital, Brussels, hosted the Belgium vs. Sweden match, in the eighth round of Group 6 for the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
More than 50,000 spectators attended the match, and during the first half gunfire was heard in the streets surrounding the match stadium due to an armed attack on two Swedish fans.
Newspaper reports said that the Swedish players decided not to continue playing because their fans were shot dead outside the stadium, and this matter was considered a terrorist act.
The European Union said in a tweet on its official Twitter account: “Following the suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it was decided, after consultation with the two teams and local police authorities, to cancel the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden. Further communications will be made in the meantime.” "The right time."
The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Victor Geukeris scoring the first goal for Sweden in the 15th minute, and Romelu Lukaku equalizing for Belgium in the 31st minute from a penalty kick.
The match is considered an achievement, after Belgium secured qualification for Euro 2024, while Sweden lost its chance to advance, after occupying third place with 6 points.
According to a video recording broadcast on the website of the Flemish newspaper "Het Latest News", the killer, who was wearing an orange jacket and was traveling on a motorcycle, fled after using a machine gun and firing at least four bullets from it.
The shooting took place near Sanctillet Square in the northern neighborhoods of the Belgian capital.
Bagnaia returned to the top after winning the Indonesian MotoGP
Central Lombok - Ducati Lenovo racer Francesco Bagnaia managed to return to the top of the standings this season after winning dramatically in the main Indonesian MotoGP race which was held at the Mandalika International Circuit, Central Lombok, NTB, Sunday.
Starting from P13, Bagnaia seemed to immediately accelerate and prove his ability as the defending champion. He drove fast, leaving the racers behind him.
Bagnaia's biggest competitor this season, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac), also did the same thing. Martin also went so fast from P6 and immediately took over from polesitter Luca Marini (Mooney VR46).
Struggling with his condition which has not yet fully recovered from injury, Marini fell because he was involved in contact with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) who then subject to a long lap penalty. Marini immediately got up again and tried to catch up.
However, Valentino Rossi's younger brother soon returned to the pits and received his first medical treatment on the shoulder area, before finally deciding to withdraw from the race.
Two laps passed, it didn't take long for Bagnaia to quickly break into the top five by overtaking Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing). Bagnaia seems to be targeting to cut the three racers in front of him, namely Martin, Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing), and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha).
Martin continued to lead until finally Quartararo was overtaken by Bagnaia and Espargaro. Bagnaia was immediately in the top three racers and tried to break Martin, the winner of the Indonesian MotoGP Sprint.
On the other hand, eight-time champion and home fan favorite, Marc Marquez (HRC) fell and decided not to finish the race even though he was reportedly fine.
A surprise occurred in the middle of the race, with the race leader at that time, Martin, falling on lap 13 while trying to pass Turn 11. This made him have to withdraw from the race and Vinales immediately took over the leading position.
This also ensures that Bagnaia will return to the top of the standings, because he has secured the podium.
Fierce competition took place between Vinales, Bagnaia and Quartararo who were chasing each other for first position. With 10 laps remaining, Bagnaia was still trying to catch Vinales.
A miracle happened. Dramatically, Bagnaia managed to pass Vinales when making the turn with a very thin margin between the two. However, Vinales was unable to stem Bagnaia's dominance until the checkered flag was raised.
With this, Bagnaia has collected 346 points at the top of the standings. Martin is below him and is 18 points behind, while Marco Bezzecchi also managed to collect points and maintain his position in third place in the standings with 283 points.