Dutch football may be facing an absolute nightmare scenario! In the worst-case scenario, the current Eredivisie season could even be abandoned. The trigger is a dispute currently being fought out in court.
The actual subject of the hearing does not sound all that dramatic at first. As reported by, among others, the 'New York Times', club NAC Breda is demanding a replay of the match against Go Ahead Eagles. The allegation: Eagles left-back Dean James did not have valid eligibility to play. So far, so ordinary.
But the background to this allegation is the "Passportgate" scandal uncovered in March. It concerns players whose nationality status has not been conclusively clarified. That, in turn, could have massive consequences for their eligibility to play.
According to Michiel van Dijk, a lawyer for the Dutch football association, an astonishing 133 matches could be affected in which ineligible professionals may have played. His warning is correspondingly clear: "If the judge rules in NAC's favor, the other clubs would also file lawsuits and seek expedited proceedings. In that case, it is possible that the championship cannot be completed."
League chief Marianne van Leeuwen is also far from pleased. "As the league's governing body, it is frustrating to have to appear in court because one of our clubs has filed a lawsuit," she said recently.
At the heart of the matter are players like James, whose roots lie in former Dutch colonial territories such as Indonesia or Suriname. Several Eredivisie players took on the citizenship of those countries in recent months in order to become eligible for their national teams.
The catch: there is no such thing as dual citizenship in the Netherlands. By switching national teams, those players therefore lost their status as citizens of the Kingdom and are now considered non-EU foreigners.
📸 ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN
And this is where it gets really bureaucratic: the affected players require a residence and work permit. In addition, there is a legally mandated minimum salary of around €600,000 per year. However, in the vast majority of cases, neither requirement is said to have been met, which would mean the players' eligibility has expired. At least in theory.
So if Breda really is proven right, a whole wave of lawsuits could follow. Suddenly, numerous matches might have to be rescheduled. Especially given the late stage of the season and the upcoming World Cup, that would be an organizational nightmare that would simply be impossible to manage.
Nothing has been decided yet, of course. But what seems like a harmless court date could seriously shake up Dutch football this Monday.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
