Without a professional license, a club cannot participate in the competition and the end is exercise. Also last season the professional license of the Arnhem club was withdrawn. Then Vitesse managed to regain the license six days before the start of the Kitchen Champion Division through a procedure at the Appeal Committee.
Even now, Vitesse will in all probability initiate an appeal procedure. If it also turns out negative, the club can still take the course of the preliminary relief judge. He will no longer deal with the case completely, but see whether the license and/or appeal committee have not made any procedural errors.
A recent support campaign by Vitesse supporters, who together formed the letter V in the parking lot for Stadium Gelredome. The action was directed against the possible withdrawal of the professional license. © Photo ANP
The argumentation of the license committee to withdraw the license is identical to that in the intended decision, which was made public on 23 May. In a statement, the controlling body states: “The license committee has been withdrawn from the license because Vitesse is structurally and over a longer period by circumventing and undermining the license system and continues to do so.”
The License Committee has come to the conclusion that the Arnhem club feet the agreements made last year. ,, When Vitesse also threatened to lose the license in the spring of 2024, the professional football organization received a last chance from the license committee. The club has made firm commitments to permanently break the structural non-compliance with (the objectives of) the licensing system. In this context, Vitesse had to take the necessary control measures, among other things, to prevent recurrence in the future and to give full transparency about the ownership, financing and control structure of Vitesse. However, the license committee has found that Vitesse also continued afterwards with circumventing and undermining the licensing system. Various management measures, which were intended to prevent new violations of (the objectives of) the licensing system, have also been canceled out within a season. ”
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Lack of control
With the latter, the license committee is referring to the independent commissioners who had been appointed and the independent board members of the foundation Vitesse foreverwho, after recovering the license, are quickly thanked for services rendered by the club. ,, For example, the members of the Supervisory Board were relieved at a crucial moment from their duties and did not replace it at that time. Also the independent foundation founded last year that had to contribute to minimizing sanction risks and the money laundering risks has not been able to perform its work properly and has been dissolved halfway through the season, “writes the license committee in the statement.” In the meantime, the shares have no longer been in possession of an independent foundation and, without the fact that there has been a good rise, gathering, parties. “
The German Timo Braasch is the current general manager and one of the five minority shareholders pushed forward in January, who will again make way for the strongholds. © Photo Proshots
Vitesse heavily disappointed
Vitesse is very disappointed about the decision. The club says in a statement: ,, The license committee ignores the negative advice of both the Central Players Council and the Central Trainers Council. Both have expressed their confidence in the future prospects of Vitesse since the intended takeover by the strong holders. ”
The club indicates that it is in line with the expectation that an appeal procedure will be filed. ,, The decision has almost fifty pages. The club will intensively study the decision and consider it, whereby it will also proceed to critical reflection. It is in line with the expectation that Vitesse will appeal against the decision. This would take the same process as last season, when the license committee also moved into the professional license, but the appeal committee destroyed License Affairs that decision. ”
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Integrity
In the statement, the License Committee also discusses the background of the decision that the Vitesse supporters will fall raw on the roof, because this year the club has a bank account, an accountant and a covered budget for the coming season, three important license conditions. ,, An important objective of the licensing system is to guarantee the integrity and continuity of the professional football competitions. The License Committee concludes that the club has brought the integrity and continuity of the professional football competition for a long period of time in such a serious danger and still brings that the license committee sees no other option than to withdraw the license of Vitesse. “
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Stronghold
The statement also discusses the plans of the strong holders, which guarantee the budget for the coming season and have indicated that they want to revise the organizational structure when taking over the shares. Yet in the eyes of the license committee, this is not sufficient for the preservation of the license. ,, In 2024, the Vitesse license committee gave a last chance. This was clearly communicated to the club at the time. One of the strict conditions to place the shares of the club in a temporary foundation last year was that the foundation and Vitesse would look for a new owner where they themselves would conduct thorough research with the aim of minimizing sanction and money laundering risks. With both current shareholders (the five minority shareholders including Timo Braasch, ed.) And with the intended shareholders (strong holders, ed.) There has been no thorough investigation by Vitesse. With this, the club structurally ignores an important objective of the licensing system, namely not endangering the integrity and continuity of the professional football competition. Since the spring of 2022 (when the sanctions against Russia were tightened because of the raid in Ukraine), the continuity and also the integrity of the professional football competition has been in such a serious danger that the Licenscommissie sees no other option than to withdraw the License of Vitesse. “
Achilles’29 from Groesbeek is the last club that has disappeared from professional football. Vitesse can be the following if the appeal procedure and the corridor to court do not offer a solution. © Photo Proshots
Achilles’29
If Vitesse does not get the license back to the appeal committee or is unable to get his right away from the court, the club will join the long line of professional clubs. There are a striking number of clubs from the Arnhem area. The last professional club that disappeared from professional football is Achilles’29 from Groesbeek in Gelderland. Earlier, this lot also found Wageningen and AGOVV Apeldoorn, also two Gelderland clubs, HFC Haarlem, BV Veendam, RBC Roosendaal and some longer ago clubs such as Fortuna Vlaardingen, SVV from Schiedam, SC Amersfoort and VC Vlissingen/VCV Zeeland and FC Amsterdam.