August 28 – The Eredivisie match between Feyenoord and Ajax on Sunday has been postponed after municipal authorities prohibited the encounter due to a planned strike by the Dutch police.
On Tuesday, mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb confirmed that the match could not take place after the police said it would strike in a bid to force an agreement with the government on early retirement regulations.
Since the 1980s, Dutch police have used strikes at major matches as leverage in negotiations with the government. Aboutaleb said that “the safety of the players, but also of the public, cannot be sufficiently guaranteed without the use of the police.”
“We listened to all the advice available to me. From experts, from the police, from the Public Prosecution Service and from my own staff. Then the conclusion was inevitable. Even thinking about the question of whether you could have played the match under safe conditions without the police, an option we seriously looked at, the final conclusion was: no.
“In recent years, even without Ajax away fans, I have needed between two and three hundred police officers to guide the Ajax bus inside, to ensure that the match is played under safe conditions and that there is no trouble in and around the stadium afterwards.”
Feyenoord vs Ajax is the most high-profile clash in the Eredivisie season because of the antagonism between the two clubs and their fans.
Historically, the match cuts across socio-economic lines with Ajax representing the elite of the capital and Feyenoord the working class of Rotterdam. Last season, the clash in the Johan Cruyff ArenA resulted in the match being abandoned following the release of fireworks. Ajax away fans have been banned from the Rotterdam venue.
The Dutch FA (KNVB) warned that the strike and postponement of the match risks calendar chaos.
“Football is now being used as a means and that says a lot about the impact of football. But of course that is not what football is meant for,” said the KNVB in a statement.
“Football has been used more often by the police unions to campaign over the years. If the current actions by the unions continue, matches will have to be rescheduled later, the number of available dates for this is very limited.”
In the Netherlands, clubs are responsible for safety and security inside the venue and their premises, but not outside the stadium perimeter. This season, four Eredivisie matches have taken place without any policing at all.
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