On Friday evening, Heracles Almelo still suspended 26-year-old Vloet, after the football club passed on The Telegraph was confronted with “new information” about the dramatic collision in November, according to the club. Vloet, regarded as the club’s best and most valuable player, was involved as a director. The official report would show that Vloet drove 203 kilometers per hour and had a blood alcohol level of 1.18, more than twice the permitted amount.
“Both are absolutely unacceptable,” Heracles Almelo general manager Rob Toussaint said in a statement on Friday evening. Moreover, Vloet would have lied about this. ‘In the weeks and months after the accident, Vloet stated to us as an employer several times that he had not driven faster than the permitted speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour, and had not drunk more than two alcoholic drinks.’
‘No new information’
But according to Vloet’s lawyer Erik Thomas, Heracles already knew that the police investigation concluded that Vloet drove way too fast and had too much to drink. In his own words, the lawyer made this known during a meeting with the club management at the beginning of December. ‘There is therefore no question of any new information for Heracles.’
In that same conversation, Vloet did say that the research findings did not correspond with ‘his experience’, according to his lawyer. ‘He was stunned when he heard that a speed of 203 kilometers per hour had been measured. During the trial it will become clear what the facts are for which my client must bear the criminal consequences.’
General director Rob Toussaint, with technical director Tim Gilissen present at the aforementioned conversation, strongly denies when asked that the findings of the police investigation have been shared. ‘It has been said: 130 kilometers per hour at cruise control and two glasses of alcohol, ‘just on the border’. But a blood alcohol level of 1.18 is not ‘just on the border’. If we had had this information sooner, we would certainly have acted differently.”
Vloets lawyer sticks to his story. “Why should we lie about it, if two months later the file showed otherwise?”
return
Heracles received a lot of criticism for the handling of Vloet after the dramatic collision, also from his own supporters. Initially, the club did not suspend the discredited player, but he was only allowed to train. Last weekend, however, Vloet was again included in the selection. In the away game against NEC, he even made his comeback as a substitute. To the dismay of some of the supporters, who were waiting for the team bus (which Vloet was not in) in Almelo.
On Monday, three supporter associations expressed their dissatisfaction during a conversation with the club management. Heracles Vloet then decided not to line up for the time being on Thursday. ‘In retrospect, we let Vloet play too fast’, Toussaint now admits. ‘That has evoked a lot of emotions and we regret that.’
The suspension followed on Friday. That decision comes as a mustard after the meal for some of the supporters. The hard core, united in Vak ’74, suspended relations with the club on Friday evening. According to them, the club management has ‘chosen completely the wrong path’ and ‘failed’ by sending Vloet into the field last week and not taking enough into account the feelings of the relatives. ‘We do not wish to identify ourselves with this policy!’
breach of trust
According to Toussaint, the fact that the club now decides to suspend and not to dismiss is ‘a legal matter, decided in consultation with our lawyer’. However, a return seems out of the question. “The matter needs to be handled carefully, but there is certainly a breach of trust.”
In an interview in The Telegraph the parents of the deceased boy lash out at Vloet. ‘In a club video, Vloet says that he sympathizes with us every day. But until now we haven’t heard from him himself.’
Vloets lawyer acknowledges that there has been no contact. According to him, the player and his lawyer have informed the police that they are open to this. ‘Maybe something went wrong in that communication. The client is and remains willing to have contact with the family and will do so in the short term.’
The parents especially want to hear that the footballer is sorry. ‘That he should never have sat in the car with a drink, nor should he have driven so fast. His friend called the police six times to ask how we were doing, but Vloet didn’t. Does he feel, does he regret? Whatever punishment he gets, it’s never enough for us.’