Monday, March 20, 2023 at 10:54• Tom Rofekamp

Rai Vloet appeared in the Haarlem court on Monday for the criminal case against him. The Ural Yekaterinburg midfielder is suspected of causing a fatal accident, which killed four-year-old Gio Roos. Vloet stated to the judge that he was ‘working on cruise control’ when the accident happened, in which he was driving 130 kilometers per hour in his opinion. The court questioned that.

Vloet will stand trial on Monday for an accident that took place in November 2021. The former player of PSV, NAC Breda and Heracles Almelo, among others, was in the driver’s seat when a collision on the A4 near Hoofddorp killed four-year-old Gio. Earlier it appeared that Vloet had gotten behind the wheel with twice as much alcohol as allowed and had driven more than two hundred kilometers per hour. Vloet acknowledged in court that he had ‘had two or three glasses of liquor’.

The midfielder also stated that he had been ‘on his way from one party to another’. “I think I was at that first party for an hour. Then you don’t realize that the alcohol you’ve consumed is already too much. I’m responsible for that myself.” However, the fact that Vloet would have driven 203 kilometers per hour is not correct in his experience. “I was playing around with that cruise control,” he claimed. “That was a bit late, wasn’t it?” the judge responded. “Absolutely, absolutely,” replied Vloet.

The professional footballer then wanted to underline that the situation really does not leave him cold, as some people claim. “It may seem that way from the outside, but of course it is not. I feel deep pain and will probably remain that way for the rest of my life.” Vloet is currently playing in Russia, but firmly denied in court that he was working on a Russian passport. This would allow him to avoid a possible sentence, since Russia does not extradite citizens.