Monday, November 22, 2021 at 5:14 PM

The 37-year-old Amsterdam football broker and trainer Gwendell van R. is suspected of having housed young talents from his stable in an illegal brothel in 2017 and 2018, according to the indictment of the Public Prosecution Service. In this house, his mother’s house in Nieuw-Vennep, there were also prostitutes who had sex with customers and players. Van R. is suspected of sexual exploitation and making child pornography.

Van R. helped talented boys get a professional contract in countries such as Sweden, Greece and Latvia, reports AT5. Some underage footballers are offered a ‘safe environment’ by him and go to live in a house in Nieuw-Vennep. In his mother’s house, prostitutes rent rooms and have sex with clients. Two talents, now 21 years and 22 years old, are also seen as suspects in the lawsuit by the Public Prosecution Service. The two allegedly participated in the online exploitation of the sex workers by arranging clothes for the prostitutes and taking them to other workplaces.

“Just a favor to friends,” says Sunil Ramdihal, lawyer for the 22-year-old suspect. “You know it: giving someone a lift with the car. I see nothing criminal in that,” he says about the alleged actions of his client. The lawyer says that at the time it seemed better for his client to rent a room from his football agent, because it was a more disciplined environment than at home with his mother. “That may have been naive of him, but if someone promises to make you a good football player, if your dream is a professional career…” Some football talents are also said to have sex with the prostitutes during this period.

Van R. is also suspected by the judiciary for producing child pornography. The OM speaks of a video in which two seventeen-year-old football talents have sex with prostitutes in the house. The football agent is seen as the videographer. The multi-day lawsuit against Van R will start on Monday. It is expected that the Public Prosecution Service will pronounce the sentence against the main suspect on Wednesday. Van R. himself was once a football promise, which came to fruition in the youth of Ajax and FC Utrecht. At the time of the alleged offences, he was the trainer of a youth team.

His lawyer Brian de Pree thinks the allegations of justice are far too short-sighted and emphasizes that ‘there has been no question of coercion’ and ‘violence has never been used’. According to the lawyer, the sex work in the house was a coincidence: it was never Van R.’s intention to run an ‘illegal brothel’. “A woman who worked in prostitution was still looking for a house and a room was available at his mother’s house in Nieuw-Vennep. He then asked rent for it: he simply wanted to earn money.” Ultimately, female victims filed a report against Van R. According to De Pree, this only happened because the police presented them with a calculation. “The agents stated that the women should earn more for their services and have to give too much to the football agent. But this will be explained by my client in court.”