Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 15:39• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 15:44

The competition match between Feyenoord and Heracles Almelo on Sunday 12 September will be moved to Wednesday 1 December at the request of the Rotterdam club. The reasons are the bringing forward by UEFA of the Conference League match between Feyenoord and Maccabi Haifa to Tuesday, September 14 (4.30 pm), the international match period extended by FIFA prior to round four and the more difficult travel in and out of Israel due to the corona measures.

After careful consideration of the above special circumstances and consultation with the Eredivisie CV, the KNVB has concluded that a one-off move to another moment in the competition program is justified. However, the football association did not go along with the wishes of the Rotterdammers and only wanted to bring the game forward.

Feyenoord would normally play against Maccabi Haifa on Thursday, but due to an Israeli holiday, the game is now two days earlier. “There is also an extended international match period by FIFA, as a result of which an important player such as Luis Sinisterra is not yet available on Saturday September 12. Furthermore, many other (basic) players of ours are now active in various national teams”, said a spokesperson earlier this week.

“Furthermore, it seems to us that relocation is correct because of the agreed protection of European clubs, which unfortunately could not be implemented last week either,” continued the Feyenoord spokesman. “Unfortunately, the away match at FC Utrecht was canceled at 12.15 pm by order of the mayor. We also do not see why this should not be possible, since the KNVB has already given Ajax permission to move the home match against Willem II from Saturday 4 December to a midweek evening.”

Dutch clubs that play in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League have the option to request to change the date and/or time of their Eredivisie matches if this will help them better prepare for the European matches. All Eredivisie clubs and the Eredivisie CV have made these agreements with each other and in consultation with the KNVB in the context of the change agenda. The KNVB facilitates this agreement.