Sjoerd Mossou states in his column in the General Journal that it is entirely due to the Feyenoord club management that safety nets must be placed against Ajax during the Classic. On Tuesday it was announced that on January 22, when the two rival clubs compete against each other in De Kuip, nets must prevent objects from being thrown on the field. A new low point in a trend that has been going on for years, says Mossou.
Exactly what the nets will look like is not yet known. Feyenoord is in talks about this with ESPN, which has the broadcasting rights for the match. There is a chance that part of Section Z will also have to remain closed due to the installation of the nets. Mossou calls it an “inevitable measure.” “After years ago all away supporters were banned from the most beautiful and largest club match in the Netherlands, the Classic is increasingly being stripped of its charm. During the Europa League match against Lazio on November 3, a catheter full of urine was found on the field. thrown from the disabled box, among all the other rubbish.”
According to Mossou, the fact that it had to come this far is entirely due to negligence on the part of the Feyenoord club management. “However compelling and fantastic De Kuip can be, the management of Feyenoord has been unable to keep its own swirling stadium somewhat under control for decades. A really thorough plan for this has never been observed. Keeping it wet was the motto,” said the columnist. “The most beautiful stadium in the Netherlands has too often turned out to be a free state, which the club, security guards and police never really got a grip on. The Feyenoord top hardly ever dared to intervene really thoroughly, in fact, it sometimes aggravated its own problems in a comical way.”
Because Feyenoord has walked along with its own supporters for years, there seems to be no turning back now. The most talked about man in the run-up to the Classic is Steven Berghuis. The attacker made the sensitive switch from Feyenoord to Ajax this summer and subsequently received several death threats. “It is a split that no one really dares to break through in Rotterdam. The magic of De Kuip is much praised, and rightly so, but the borders were stretched more often than really guarded, until they irrevocably faded. The only thing left for Feyenoord is hiding his audience in a huge and sad kind of animal cage, also the exemplary majority. Hopefully that will give you something to think about.”