Sunday, April 9, 2023 at 11:18• Guy Habets • Last update: 11:18

Frank Wormuth has during Good morning Premier League talked about his bond with Rai Vloet. The attacking midfielder played under Wormuth at Heracles Almelo when he caused a fatal accident under the influence of alcohol, which killed a four-year-old child. The German manager is visibly affected when he talks about that situation.

Earlier, Wormuth gave in an interview with Football International that he has come to see Vloet in prison. It hurts the coach a lot when he is asked if letting Vloet play after the accident was the biggest mistake of his coaching career. “I also lost three children, so I can feel what those parents feel. You can talk about mistakes, but you weren’t in the story like I was. You don’t know what we were going through then. Put it in that situation. Ultimately, you’re right that it wasn’t right of me at the time.”

Wormuth also had to think about his personal situation when he had to deal with Vloet. “I also lost three children in the mother’s womb, which I then held in my hands. My son has a depression. Then I see a boy like Vloet… People may wonder why, for example, I visit him, but they don’t know the situation. For me it makes sense that I visit him in prison. I don’t drop him, but it is clear that it bullshit is what he has done. That’s awful.”

After the accident, Vloet lied to Wormuth about his speed and his blood alcohol level. That also did not prompt the German trainer to drop the attacking midfielder, who was sentenced this week to two and a half years in prison. “I learned a lot about people while teaching the trainer course and that helped me here too. Of course he lied to me, but people panic in a situation like that too. He said sorry because he didn’t want to disappoint me Just because people do crazy things in a situation like that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn around and leave him now.”