Sunday’s crunch De Klassieker match between Feyenoord and Ajax has been called-off because of a police strike.
The fixture has a long history of disorder and officers were injured during crowd trouble at the Eredivisie match between the sides in Amsterdam 11 months ago.
Zondag geen Klassieker…#feyaja
— Feyenoord Rotterdam (@Feyenoord) August 27, 2024
After Feyenoord went 3-0 ahead home fans threw flares and fireworks onto the pitch and play was halted shortly before the hour mark.
The match was eventually concluded three days later behind closed doors with Arne Slot’s side sealing a 4-0 win.
The Rotterdam side won the return at De Kuip 6-0 in April, though away fans have been banned from attending the fixture for several seasons due to previous trouble around the stadium.
Police said they would not work at Sunday’s scheduled game as part of an ongoing campaign surrounding early retirement rules.
Games in Breda, Enschede, Almere and Groningen have gone ahead without police presence outside the stadiums in recent weeks, with clubs in charge of security inside grounds, but such is the high profile nature of this rivalry that the decision was taken to postpone.
Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, said: “The safety of the players, but also of the public, cannot be sufficiently guaranteed without the use of the police.
“We listened to all the advice available, from experts, from the police, from the Public Prosecution Service and from my own staff. The conclusion was inevitable.
“Even thinking about the question of whether you could have played the match under safe conditions without the police, an option we seriously looked at, the final conclusion was no.
“In recent years, even without Ajax away fans, I have needed 200-300 police officers to guide the Ajax bus inside, to ensure the match is played under safe conditions and there is no trouble in and around the stadium afterwards.”
Football is being used
Feyenoord claimed the club “understand that people have to stand up for their cause, but regret that football, not for the first time, is being used as a tool”.
The Dutch FA (KNVB) claimed the match may need to be rescheduled for a weekday later in the season.
A statement said: “Football has been used more often by the police unions to campaign over the years. If the current actions by the unions continue, matches will have to be rescheduled later, the number of available dates for this is very limited.
“In that case football, and all fans, which means some 10 million Dutch people, will be unfairly hit hard.”
Police union spokesman Maarten Brink added: “Our actions will not only target football matches. In the future they will also impact other events and demonstrations.”
