Barry Atsma is reprimanded because he was not ready to provide explanations to RTL Boulevard after the collapse of his Utrecht sports hall. “We are in crisis discussions at the moment.”
A large part of the Utrecht sports complex Hal22 collapsed on Wednesday evening because there was so much snow on the roof and the roof was apparently not designed for it. The collapse is national news because the sports hall has some well-known owners, including Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Barry Atsma. The latter was soon on the spot.
Scared for Barry
Eddy Zoëy, presenter of RTL Boulevard, especially sympathizes with Barry. “Luckily no one was present. That was a shock for everyone, but certainly for Barry,” he says in the show section.
Reporter Aran Bade then: “Yes, enormous. You can also see: it was opened in 2021. Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten, they were all proudly at the front, but today it is different. The fear is there. Barry lives nearby, he immediately went to have a look. You understand that he thought: what happened to us?”
Questionable
Aran likes that no one has died. “A blessing in disguise: no one was injured and no one died. That is quite remarkable actually, because it is so big there and it is busy.”
“There is paddling, sports, pool. I find it quite questionable how this can happen. There seem to be guidelines in the Netherlands for construction that you have to adhere to, but such a roof still collapses!”
Ah, there seem to be building regulations in the Netherlands. Where exactly did Aran hear that?
Aran pissed off
Anyway: Barry is busy with it. “I can imagine that Barry had the phone to his ear all day today calling everyone,” notes Luuk Ikink.
Well, not with Boulevard anyway and there’s Aran not amused about. “Yes, we have tried to reach Barry. His management also said: ‘We are in crisis discussions at the moment. That is the most important thing.’ I understand that. On the other hand: if it’s good, you’re there, and if it’s bad news too!”