The family of Remco Evenepoel considers taking legal actions against a wave of hate: "It doesn’t stop..."

The family of Remco Evenepoel is considering taking legal action after the unnecessary racist remarks on social media towards Evenepoel and his wife Oumi Rayane. These voices stacked up considerably after Evenpoel's recent bad performance at Liege-Bastogne-Liege (finished 59th). Someone seems to have fogotten his performances a week earlier, having came from a long hiatus...

Some comments on Remco's Facebook fanpage with over 25.000 members were way over the line, including racist remarks, often linked to statements Evenepoel made about his wife's religion earlier. "The legal service has been called in. It has to stop!", his father Patrick Evenepoel responded.

And that all was way before sports presenter and commentator Ruben Van Gucht made his striking statements about Evenepoel's in-laws in the Canvas program 'De Afspraak'.  

"It doesn’t stop," father Patrick states in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad. "And then Ruben Van Gucht adds to it. We don’t really follow it ourselves, but people who know us well forward those things. People can be bad, especially on social media. It’s about all sorts of things and probably also about Oumi. But nobody should bother with what they do between the two of them, right?"

"Of course, these statements affect us. It is no longer about the athlete, but about our child. We can no longer leave these reactions as they are. The appropriate people will deal with them. And not just for us, but for everyone who has to experience such things. At this moment, no complaints have been filed."

The local Dilbreek police emphasize that racism, hate speech and discrimination are punishable under Belgian law. "An investigation can then be started,"Het Nieuwsbladquotes commissioner Koen Luppens. "There are several cases in the Criminal Code that criminalize hate speech, incitement and discrimination. Defamation and slander are also in the Criminal Code. And then there is the Anti-Discrimination Code. Penalties range from fines to prison sentences. In addition, victims can file a civil lawsuit for damages."