Johan Derksen lashed out hard at Marianne van Leeuwen on Friday evening. During the day Veronica Inside the analyst gets to see images of the professional football director of the KNVB, who was not asked to answer a question about the operation of smart cameras in stadiums. With her performance in front of the camera of RTL News she makes a fool of herself, says Derksen.
At the table with Veronica Inside a discussion is being held about the approach to the increasing football violence surrounding matches in the Netherlands. One way to identify rioters in stadiums faster and better is the use of smart cameras with facial recognition, suggests presenter Wilfred Genee. He thus bridges the gap to the fragment by Van Leeuwen, who was unable to answer the question last week as to why the cameras in question are not yet used during football matches.
“Why are those smart cameras still not being used everywhere? To be honest, I don’t even have the answer to that,” Van Leeuwen responded hesitantly. “I would like to bring in my spokesperson, because he knows better how things are in that area.” The KNVB’s press officer, Jaap Paulsen, then stated that the help of companies is currently being called in to think about developing digital, smart solutions. The images lead to a lot of annoyance at Derksen, while Valentijn Driessen is also unhappy about Van Leeuwen’s appearance.
“This lady has just been there, and she thinks it is so much fun to suddenly have a job in publicity,” Derksen responds. “But every time she’s in the limelight, she comes across as a bitch who doesn’t know anything about anything. You should only get publicity at the KNVB if you have a complete grasp of your position and if you can answer everything. I’ve already thought a few times: you’re talking out of your ass! And here she again does not make a strong impression,” says Derksen, who is supplemented by Driessen. “She’s lost all credibility, of course.”
Van Leeuwen joined the KNVB on 1 October, where she took over from Eric Gudde. It is the first time in the association’s history that a woman has been appointed to this position. “We believe we have selected the best candidate for this position”, Jan Smit, chairman of the Supervisory Board, responded to Van Leeuwen’s appointment in May. Before that, the latter had been chairman of the Amsterdam amateur association Zeeburgia since 2014, among other things.