The KNVB issued twice as many stadium bans last season, although supporters were not welcome at matches for a number of months due to the corona pandemic. This is evident from the Wednesday published Football association safety monitor. The KNVB imposed more than 1,250 national stadium bans. “Set against the more than five million visitors to professional football, it is still a small group of ‘bad apples’,” according to the association.
Most stadium bans were imposed after the throwing of cups and other objects, which carries a penalty of up to three years. Fireworks were also set off and thrown more often, and the number of field entry was remarkably high, according to the KNVB. A supporter entered the field no fewer than 105 times.
The independent professional football prosecutor had to investigate irregularities at a match 148 times this season. That is almost three times as much as last seasons. According to the KNVB, 39 of the 795 matches were stopped. Of these, two games were played later and two were permanently discontinued.
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regularly wrong
Last season, things went wrong in the Gelderland derby between NEC and Vitesse, which was finished in October. During the game itself several players were pelted with beer and after the game dozens of rioters attacked the police with stones and sticks. A police car was wrecked and several officers and police horses were injured. 22 people were arrested and 65 supporters were subsequently banned from stadiums. The match was played out without spectators a few days later.
In March, the match between Vitesse and Sparta was discontinued due to misconduct by Vitesse fans. Sparta then did not want to continue playing, with the result that the game was not finished until a month and a half later.
“Unfortunately, the number of incidents has increased, but it is also clear that the perpetrators cannot get away with this,” concludes Marianne van Leeuwen, director of professional football at the KNVB. According to her, clubs are increasingly able to track down the perpetrators and keep them out of the stadium for a long time. “These are not supporters because they are duping their own club and the real supporters. Football is better off without them.”
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