15 people arrested in Ajax-Feyenoord as the match will resume behind closed doors

The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) decided on Monday that the Ajax-Feyenoord match, which was suspended on Sunday after flares were thrown from the stands of the Amsterdam stadium when the visitors were leading 3-0, will resume behind closed doors on Wednesday afternoon.

Following the suspension, riots broke out, resulting in 15 arrests and 2 police officers injured.

The match had to be abandoned on Sunday afternoon after groups of home supporters threw objects onto the pitch and threw flares on two occasions: the first just before half-time - after Feyenoord scored their third goal - and the second in the 55th minute, at which point it was considered that safety could not be guaranteed and the match was abandoned.

After the match was cancelled, hundreds of fans vandalised the area around Ajax's stadium, the Johan Cruyff Arena, and attacked police vans with stones. Police responded with tear gas and arrested 15 people, according to Dutch media reports on Monday.

Following a meeting on Monday morning, the Dutch Football Association, the Eredivisie and the First Division's governing body decided that the remaining 35 minutes of the match will be played behind closed doors on Wednesday at 14:00 CET, an option that Feyenoord reject and are considering going to court.

"It is not to our advantage that the match has been called off," said Arne Slot on Sunday afternoon, who believes that the match should be considered over with the final score at the time of the suspension (0-3 in their favour).

Until the 55th minute, when the game was abandoned, the visitors' superiority was evident. Atletico's Champions League rivals won at the Johan Cruyff Arena led by Mexico's Santiago Gimenez, who scored two goals and assisted the other.

 

September 25, 2023