It is inconceivable that Rai Vloet will ever play for football club Heracles Almelo. That’s what general manager Rob Toussaint said to sports channel ESPN on Sunday. In November, Vloet caused a car accident that killed a four-year-old boy.
Toussaint apologized in the ESPN interview for how Heracles handled the matter: midfielder Vloet was back on the training field a week after the fatal accident and came in against NEC last week, without the victim’s parents knowing in advance. He was only suspended last Friday.
Toussaint said that the club management had not initially suspended Vloet because the footballer himself had said that he had drunk two glasses of alcohol and was driving 130 kilometers per hour “on cruise control”. Last Friday, director Toussaint would have been told “in black and white” that Vloet had drunk “almost 2.5 times” more than allowed. The club management suspended Vloet for that reason and because he “possibly” had driven much faster than 130 kilometers per hour; The Telegraph wrote based on the viewed file that Vloets on-board computer indicated a speed of 203 kilometers per hour. The club management also blamed Vloet for lying about his blood alcohol level and speed.
‘Shared earlier’
Vloet lawyer contradicted Saturday in de Volkskrant that the information about alcohol consumption and excessive speed was only shared with the club on Friday; according to him, he had informed the Heracles leadership at the beginning of December. Confronted by ESPN, Toussaint said this is “absolutely not true.”
The fatal accident and the events that followed – including angry fans waiting for the team bus – are, according to Toussaint, the most traumatic Heracles ever experienced. Asked whether it is “conceivable” for him that Vloet “will ever wear Heracles’ shirt again”, Toussaint replied with a simple “no”. According to Toussaint, the fact that the midfielder has not yet been fired has not to do with substantive but with labor law considerations.