Almelo’s top scorer
Heracles Almelo has suspended top scorer Rai Vloet with immediate effect. The board and management of the Eredivisie club are “deeply shocked” by new information about a fatal traffic accident on November 14, 2021, in which the offensive player was involved with his car and in which a four-year-old child died.
The newspaper “De Telegraaf“ had confronted the club with the official police report on the accident. Vloet was in his car with a friend, both of whom said they were not driving it. The documents show that both Vloet and his friend were under the influence of alcohol. The 26-year-old offensive player had a blood alcohol level of 1.18, more than twice the permissible limit (0.5). The investigation also revealed that the driving speed of 203 km/h was much too fast.
“As we found out today, Vloet may not only have been driving way too fast that night, but he was also drinking too much. Both are absolutely unacceptable. In the weeks and months following the accident, Vloet has repeatedly told us, as his employer, that he did not drive faster than the speed limit of 130 km/h and that he did not drink more than two drinks. Based on this information, which has since been shown to be false, Heracles Almelo has made all its decisions in good faith and as a good place to work,” said Managing Director Rob Toussaint.
Heracles Almelo on Vloet suspension: “I would have decided differently immediately”
Vloet, who has a contract with Heracles until 2023 and is Almelo’s top scorer last season and this season with a total of 22 goals in 48 games, returned to training last week. Last Saturday, the offensive player was surprisingly in the squad against NEC Nijmegen (0-0) and played 25 minutes. The decision did not go down well with fans, who harshly criticized Heracles, among others, in a statement via social media. The club had reacted to this and explained that everyone involved needed rest and that Vloet would only train with the team for the time being. After the suspension, this is no longer applicable.
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Toussaint continued: “If we as a club had known this essential information earlier, we would of course have immediately decided differently in the interests of the victim’s family and everyone else involved and never allowed Vloet to train and play. We deeply regret that the family is going through this on top of the traumatic accident that happened to them. The club will contact the family again soon. Our thoughts are with them.”
Heracles Almelo shorn by direct Rai Vloet
— Heracles Almelo (@HeraclesAlmelo) January 21, 2022
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