Johan Derksen gives up hope that the KNVB will ever stand up for human rights issues. The analyst is extremely bothered by the attitude of the Dutch Football Association, which refuses to distance itself from FIFA's intention to hold the World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034. Derksen has in Today Inside a compliment for reporter Noa Vahle, who critically questions Gijs de Jong of the KNVB.
Vahle asks the secretary general of the KNVB whether the Dutch association will support Saudi Arabia's bid. “It depends on the prayer and what it says,” said De Jong. “Behind the scenes we certainly draw attention to the human rights issue.”
Wilfred Genee responds in the studio of Today Inside cynical. “So the prayer should say: 'We no longer carry out executions, we no longer hang anyone. When people come to our border, we no longer shoot them… And gays are welcome.”
Derksen lashes out at the KNVB and the Dutch internationals, who were previously criticized for the lukewarm criticism of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “Those players on the Dutch national team feel bad about it, even if they have to play in North Korea,” Derksen sighs.
“And Gijs de Jong doesn't care about it either, because he needs the money from such a World Cup in Saudi Arabia to keep the KNVB running. Standards do not exist at all. They blindly follow FIFA.” Genee has advice for the KNVB. “Just say that. Just say, 'Whatever is in the prayer, we're going to do it.'”
Vahle delicately points De Jong to an interview that the secretary general of the KNVB gave a year earlier. “We could only support a World Cup in Saudi Arabia if the human rights situation there has actually improved,” De Jong said earlier. “But of course human rights have not exactly improved now,” Vahle notes. “We are waiting for the bid,” is the only thing De Jong says in response.
Derksen believes that Vahle deserves praise. “Little Noa is already putting that man with his back against the wall, because there was no decent answer. That is the big boss of the KNVB… He actually says, without using those words: the whole human rights issue is of interest I don't give a shit.”
Derksen loses confidence in the KNVB. “I have no hope at all that standards will ever come from the KNVB or the players. It's all about money.”