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Football

19th Nov 2015

Roma midfielder poses for photos with Belgian police after being mistaken for terrorist

Safety first

Tom Victor

It’s natural for individuals to be on high alert following the Paris attacks, but this sort of thing seems wholly avoidable.

Police were called to the Radisson Blu hotel in Antwerp, Belgium, after reports of an individual acting suspiciously.

The only problem? The individual in question was Roma and Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan, who was staying at the hotel with friends.

“The clientele of the hotel was that I looked threatening,” Nainggolan is quoted as saying in Belgian publication Het Nieuwsblad, which suggests the player was mistaken for a terrorist.

“Luckily the police recognized me quickly,” he added.

Nainggolan, who is likely to feature in Belgium’s Euro 2016 squad, was due to play in the postponed friendly with Spain but waited an extra day before returning to his club in Italy.