Football club Titan is not pressing charges against the young men who destroyed one of the fields during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. “But we do want to hold the drivers of the cars liable,” says treasurer Gea Moorman.
That night, the vandals drove their cars across field 2 at the sports park in Nieuw-Weerdinge. The ride left deep tire tracks in the field. In addition, one of the cars became stuck and was then pulled free by a tractor. The football club could see all this on camera images. If the perpetrators did not report before noon on Thursday, a report would follow.
The perpetrators came forward, but the club’s board members did not have a good feeling about the conversation. That is why the club wanted to file a report, but decided against it. “Then such a report ends up in a drawer. The police also have to deal with understaffing,” Moorman explains. “So we thought: if we have so much work to do, reporting has no added value for us.”
According to Moorman, the unpleasant feeling mainly lies in the attitude of the two motorists. “We also said to those boys yesterday: ‘Do you realize what you have done? Not only on the field, but also what happens behind it.’ Then those boys looked at us with a what-are-you-talking-about look,” she sighs.
Moorman doesn’t have a good word to say about it. “If those boys had been very guilty, we might have come to an agreement. But we didn’t get the impression that they really took it seriously.”
According to the treasurer, the total damage amounts to approximately 1,500 to 2,000 euros. Not small beer for a football club. According to Moorman, it’s not just about the money. “We can’t repair the field yet, but if we do, we won’t be able to play on it for a few weeks,” she says. “Then you miss out on income, but you also have to move to another association.” In short: a lot of hassle and arranging.
To get compensation for the damage, Moorman hopes for ‘mediation’ from the local police officer. “We would like to get him involved so that he also has those guys on the radar.”
Moorman hopes that the two vandals will still be guilty and compensate for the damage. “Putting on a lawyer also costs a lot of money.”
Titan board members also spoke with a co-driver and the driver of the tractor. “That co-driver was conscious of guilt and also thought that they had crossed the line. He wants to help pay.” The man who pulled one of the cars loose with his tractor also quickly reported himself. “He just got involved in this. He wanted to do something good. So now to punish him extra…”