Footballer Kevin van Veen, who plays for FC Groningen, provoked the supporters of NAC Breda on Friday evening by celebrating his equalizer exuberantly. The referee stopped the match briefly and Van Veen received a yellow card for his defiant behavior. After the match, player Kevin explained his behavior. “Prior to the match, the NAC supporters shouted that my daughter should be diagnosed with a fatal disease,” the born and raised Eindhoven resident told RTV Noord.
Ultimately, FC Groningen lost the match against NAC 3-2. After the match, Groningen was not only about the result, but also about the interaction between striker Kevin van Veen and the NAC crowd. Kevin van Veen’s provocative celebration did not come out of the blue.
Nasty messages
Wishing Kevin’s daughter a nasty illness from the NAC stands preceded this exuberant celebration of his goal. The goalscorer continues: ‘I’m 32 years old and maybe I should do better, but there are people in the stands who say things like this and maybe have children themselves. I cheer how I cheer, and then I really give a damn about such people.”
These were not the first nasty messages that the native of Eindhoven received. Earlier this week, the striker shared a hateful message he received about his unborn child on his social media. ‘I am human and I have emotions. “I may have gone a little too far in my provocative behavior,” he sounds guiltily.
Statement
Trainer Dick Lukkien of FC Groningen could understand Van Veen’s behavior. “You sometimes do things with emotion that you can question later. On the other hand, perhaps we should make a statement about the fact that you cannot say everything. Starting about someone’s children goes way too far.”
In Breda, there is great annoyance about Kevin’s statements. “I was in the stadium myself and I didn’t hear anything bad that was shouted at Kevin,” says chairman Martijn Koks of the NAC supporters foundation Breda Loco’s. “Maybe someone shouted something that is possible. I also do not rule out the possibility that nothing was shouted and Kevin used it as an excuse for his provocative behavior.” This opinion is widely shared among NAC supporters on social media.
This summary shows the provocative discharge of Kevin van Veen after scoring the equalizer.