First charges over violence linked to football match in Amsterdam

Dutch officials have released details of the 62 people arrested after violent attacks took place around the football match between Amsterdam's Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday.

- Senay Boztas

Violence after the game - described by the Amsterdam mayor, Femke Halsema, as "hit and run attacks" on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans by "boys on scooters" - provoked horror.

The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, was among those who condemned what he called "anti-semitic violence against Israelis", while the US president, Joe Biden, called the attacks "despicable" and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, compared them to Kristallnacht, the 1938 pogrom in Nazi Germany in which an estimated 91 Jews were murdered.

Amsterdam's police chief, Peter Holla, said there had been "incidents on both sides", starting on Wednesday night when Maccabi fans tore down a Palestinian flag from a building in the city centre, shouted "fuck you Palestine", and destroyed a taxi.

The Dutch public prosecution has confirmed 62 people were arrested on Thursday before and during the Ajax game, which began at 8pm local time.

Halsema and the heads of the Dutch police and prosecution told the media on Friday that violence by "rioters and criminals" aimed at some of the 2,600 "Jewish Israeli visitors" had left five people in hospital and 20 to 30 with minor injuries.

There were reports of fireworks set off and people thrown into canals.