Dutch classic between Ajax and Feyenoord suspended due to flares being thrown

Global Courant

The Dutch football classic between Ajax and Feyenoord was suspended this Sunday as a result of the launching of flares and fireworks, according to television images.

Referee Serdar Gözübüyük interrupted the match for the first time just before half-time due to the presence of fireworks on the pitch, launched by local fans.

Later, for the same reason, he permanently suspended the game and sent the players to the locker room.

The suspension of the match gave way to incidents outside the stadium, forcing the police to intervene.

The main entrance door to the Johan Cruyff Arena stadium was vandalized, according to images circulating on social networks and as confirmed by the police.

At the time of the suspension, Feyenoord was winning 3-0 in this match on matchday six of the Dutch championship.

“This has nothing to do with football. You play with the safety of the footballers, other fans and yourselves. A shame,” Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius said on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Both teams had to confine themselves to their locker rooms for fear of their safety.

“It is not behavior worthy of Ajax,” lamented the historic club from the capital in a statement published at night.

For its part, the Ajax Fans Association, in a message titled “The club is on fire,” highlighted that with this episode of violence, “the club’s crisis has hit rock bottom.”

Ajax, the most successful club in the country, is going through a sporting crisis, with only 5 points in four games played, occupying 13th place in the championship, while Feyenoord is 4th, with 11 points in five games.

– Episodes that repeat –

The leader of the championship is PSV Eindhoven, with a full 15 points in five games.

Dutch football regularly faces problems of violence between fans, especially those of big clubs.

Last season, Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen was injured in the head by a lighter thrown from the stands by a Feyenoord fan.

In May, AZ Alkmaar fans with their faces covered tried to force their way into the area reserved for friends and family of the West Ham coaching staff after the English team’s victory in the Conference League semi-finals.

And this season, league matches involving FC Utrecht, Twente, Go Ahead Eagles, RKC Waalwijk and Sparta Rotterdam had to be stopped due to altercations in the stands.

All these episodes have led the country’s sports authorities to study applying the “English model” to put an end to violence and hooliganism with severe measures, such as prohibiting access to sports venues for those causing altercations.

In the 1980s, English clubs were expelled from European competitions after the death of 39 people, most of them Italian nationals, following an avalanche caused by English fans shortly before the European Cup final that pitted Liverpool against Juventus at the Heysel stadium in Brussels.

Dutch classic between Ajax and Feyenoord suspended due to flares being thrown

America Region News ,Next Big Thing in Public Knowledg