It’s the story of the year.
It’s a case that is currently shaking the Netherlands and is only just starting to make noise beyond its borders.
The Dutch league is at the heart of a completely crazy legal mess that could lead to 133 matches from the season being replayed!
The reason? As reported by L'Équipe, it all stems from players born in the Netherlands who chose to represent another national team instead (such as Suriname or Indonesia to give themselves a chance of playing in the World Cup).
With this change in sporting nationality, the players are now considered foreign workers under Dutch law. This status change comes with specific obligations for clubs, notably obtaining a work permit and complying with a minimum annual salary threshold of €608,000 for players over 21.
The problem is that several clubs were unaware of these obligations and are said to have fielded players without meeting all the required legal conditions.
In other words, some footballers may have played even though they were not fully compliant administratively. That could make their participation legally invalid.
The case took a real turn when the issue was raised on the De Derde Helft podcast after NAC Breda’s 6-0 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles, in which Dean James had started. Born in the Netherlands, the defender chose to play for Indonesia.
A few days after the podcast was published, Breda decided to file an appeal with the Dutch football federation. The federation rejected it, but NAC Breda then decided to appeal before the Utrecht court.
The verdict is expected next Monday and could be a real cataclysm for the Eredivisie if the court rules in favor of the team currently 17th in the league, because a total of 25 players in this situation are scattered across the division.
The federation’s lawyer explained that 133 matches could therefore end up having to be replayed.
It is worth noting that during the proceedings, many players were placed on temporary unemployment before the immigration and naturalization services gave them a stamp allowing them to play again!
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.
