First the pall of smoke, then the lighter from the stands: madness in Feyenoord-Ajax

Madness in Feyenoord-Ajax

The Dutch Cup semifinal that Feyenoord and Ajax played Wednesday night at ‘De Kuip’ in Rotterdam is bound to be discussed more for what happened in the stands than for the result at the triple whistle (1-2, with the Lancers qualifying for the final against PSV).

Already in the 2nd minute the match referee, Mr. Lindhout, was forced to stop the contest because of the thick blanket of smoke caused by the fireworks used in the stands, a dark cloud that literally enveloped the playing facility. The match then resumed and saw goals by Tadic in the 14th minute, Gimenez in the first half recovery (for the hosts’ equalizer) and Klaassen in the 51st minute, but the latter was the protagonist in spite of himself of an ugly episode, which occurred ten minutes after the goal: the 1993 class was in fact struck by a lighter rained down from the stands, which caused a bleeding wound on his head.

The episode forced the referee to suspend the match again, sending the players to the locker room: only after half an hour, with due reassurances to the referee about the behavior of the public by the home club, did play resume without Klaassen on the field, who was precautionarily replaced by Brobbey.

The match then came to an end without further incident: Ajax won qualification for the final on the field, the measures of the sports justice for what happened on a sometimes surreal evening are now awaited.