The supporters of Feyenoord have recently ensured that the seats of De Kuip are not unoccupied at home games. In the stands almost 45,000 banners have been placed by the supporters of the people of Rotterdam as a statement of support. However, this action threatens to cause a problem towards the final of the TOTO KNVB Cup between Ajax and Vitesse on April 18, because the supporters’ association of the team from Amsterdam wants to remove the banners from De Kuip during this game.
Volunteers have recently ensured that 44,000 seats of De Kuip are covered with banners, which means that the stadium (47,212 seats) is almost completely sold out. Feyenoord will play against FC Emmen, Fortuna Sittard, Vitesse, Ajax and RKC Waalwijk in its own stadium this season. The first two home games take place before the cup final, while the last three games are played afterwards. If it is up to the Ajax supporters’ association, the banners will disappear at the final battle in the TOTO KNVB Cup.
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“It is up to the KNVB to decide, since they are organizing this match”, the Ajax supporters’ association said. Algemeen Dagblad. “We believe that the final should be played on neutral ground in a neutral environment, so without any statements from third parties – except for the finalists involved (Vitesse and Ajax), the organizer (KNVB) and its sponsors. So without the current banners in the stadium. In addition, we are looking into the possibilities of organizing an atmospheric action together with Ajax supporters, in the grandstands allocated to us. ”
“We rent De Kuip for the cup final of Stadion Feijenoord. At the moment there is still talk about what will happen with the banners. There is nothing more than that to say about it now, ”the KNVB said in a response. The football association would hope that in the context of the Fieldlab experiments, a public is still welcome in De Kuip. It Algemeen Dagblad writes that various options are being worked on behind the scenes. One of those options is to make the Feyenoord banners temporarily disappear by covering them with other screens. According to the conditions, De Kuip must be delivered ‘neutral’ for the cup final.
In any case, removing the cloths is not an option for Feyenoord supporters. “That would really be a slap in the face of the many volunteers,” says Feyenoord supporter Freek Verhulst. “I sincerely hope that the KNVB shows some leniency towards Feyenoord and that this wonderful initiative shows a special time where the football fans are already having such a hard time. Don’t forget, after the cup final we also have the Classic here. And we want to keep them with banners for as long as supporters are not allowed to come. ”