Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to announce on Tuesday evening that amateur sport for adults will be halted for the time being. The decision could have major consequences for the KNVB Cup, in which sixty amateur clubs belong to the field from the first round this season. This Tuesday evening there is even a game between Quick Boys and Roda ’46 scheduled in the second qualifying round, but the question is what will happen next.

The game between Quick Boys and Roda ’46 is the last game in the qualifying rounds. In principle, 26 amateur clubs are represented in the first round of the main tournament, which will be played between 26 and 28 October. The question is whether they can continue to play matches. If that turns out not to be the case, it will be a major financial blow. It Algemeen Dagblad writes, for example, that BVV Barendrecht collected an amount of approximately 16,000 euros by surviving the qualifying rounds. Part of this amounts to a premium of 10,000 euros for reaching the main tournament.

“Of course we don’t know everything yet, but I am terribly disappointed that it could have consequences for the cup tournament”, says chairman Martin Seltenrijch of Barendrecht on the side. The president is also concerned about the money his club has made in the qualifying rounds so far. After all, the regulations of the KNVB stipulate that the reward of 10,000 euros for placement in the main tournament is only paid out once the first game in the main tournament has been played.

“What will happen to those ten grand if we cancel the match on October 27?” the third round would win against Achilles Veen, an amount of between 15,000 and 20,000 euros could be earned. “For the first time in years we have a draw with possibilities”, Seltenrijch sighs.

Amateur clubs have already suffered a financial blow in recent months due to the closure of the canteens. Seltenrijch proposes that the cup tournament be moved ‘to a later stage’. “The KNVB should not come up with too much for the professional clubs. I am getting a bit tired of that by now. In England they also play football twice a week?” He points out. Competition manager Jan Bluyssen of the KNVB does not want to get ahead of things yet and says that he will await the press conference of the cabinet, which starts at 7 p.m. It is also unclear to the football association what the cup tournament will look like, he says.