November 9 – Vitesse’s derby against De Graafschap was called off on Sunday after away supporters prevented their own team from traveling to the game.
Thousands of home fans were already at Arnhem’s GelreDome for the 12.15pm kick-off in the Dutch second leg, but the De Graafschap team never arrived.
The queue started for the tickets. De Graafschap’s allocation had been reduced from 800 to 500, with additional security conditions. When several fans refused to accept them, the decision was made on Saturday night to ban fans entirely.
On Sunday morning, fans responded by blocking the exit to their stadium and closing the parking lot gates, leaving the team bus stranded.
“This is really unacceptable,” said Jan Bluyssen, manager of competition affairs at the Dutch FA. “I’ve never experienced anything like this and we don’t ever want to experience it again. This is a crazy situation. People can disagree with something and everyone can express their opinion. But that’s really not the right way.”
The KNVB said in a statement: “For fans to make football impossible is completely unacceptable. By doing so, they harm their club, their team, the sport and the thousands of fans who come to watch football.”
The case has been transferred to the disciplinary bodies, and the competition court will discuss a new date and possible sanctions on Monday.
De Graafschap only made a brief statement. “We are negatively surprised and shocked by today’s events,” the club said. “We want to let the initial emotions subside and assess the situation before issuing a more substantial response.”
The incident adds to growing concern about supporter behavior in Dutch football, where bans and restrictions on away fans have become increasingly common at high-stakes matches. This one is unusual, as the fans’ protest did more damage to their own club. De Graafschap are now facing sanctions for a match their supporters prevented from playing.
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