A banner that hung prominently in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Sunday afternoon was not well received by everyone. During the match between Ajax and FC Groningen (3-1) hung behind one of the two goals a black cloth with the text ‘RIP Polletje’, a reference to the deceased Martin van de Pol, a convicted criminal who was shot dead in Amsterdam on Thursday. Southeast.
Prior to the match, Ajax’s F-Side displayed a banner in honor of it at the entrance of the stadium Polletje, as Van de Pol’s nickname was. That canvas was prominently displayed in the Johan Cruijff ArenA during the match. Van de Pol was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 for shooting four men in a sex club in Haarlem, but on appeal his sentence was reduced to 15 years in prison. He had been an influential figure on the F-Side since the 1980s.
‘Polletje’ secured Ajax players and received a high visit in prison
Martin van de Pol was a striking figure at Ajax for years.
“It is nevertheless striking that Ajax allows a banner with” RIP Polletje “to hang. Nothing but good about the dead?”, An Ajax supporter wonders on Twitter. “That at a listed company in 2021 it is just completely kosher to honor a liquidated criminal,” notes another twitterer. There is criticism of Ajax’s management, which in the eyes of some social media users should have intervened. “That the Ajax management allows this”, sighs a twitterer. Demi speaks of ‘idiocy’. “It’s stupid that the club wants to link up with this. Incredibly vulgar.
‘Polletje’ was a loved and feared person within Ajax. He is said to have assaulted and threatened fellow supporters, extorted hooligans and got deep into the cocaine and pill trade. Although many members of the F-Side still respected and saw him as a ‘fighter’, who did not hesitate to brawl with other supporter groups, there was more dissatisfaction among the ‘old hard core’ about his boldness. After a member knocked him to the ground, his influence was waning. Van de Pol was less and less to be found in the stadium, which is a stone’s throw from the place where he was shot dead by an unknown person on Thursday when he took his seven-year-old daughter from school.
RIP Polletje ??? pic.twitter.com/t0gv9OvP1U
– F-SIDE (@FSideNL) March 7, 2021