This week feyenoord trainer Bert van Marwijk received a letter with some bullets attached. It was signed 'De harde kern van Ajax' (Ajax hardcore) and 'De Joodse gemeenschap' (the Jewish community) and referred to chants by a small group of feyenoord fans during the 'open day'. Later this week PSV trainer Guus Hiddink also received a similar letter. This time it was signed by the feyenoord hardcore and the letter supposedly stated that anyone who would stand in the way of feyenoords championship challenge will die. Some time before these two incidents Frank Rijkaard (Sparta trainer) had also received a letter accompanied by a bullet. Last sunday, PSV supporters (some with a stadium ban) held up the players bus in Eindhoven, delaying the departure for 2 hours. It was a protest against the fact that psv supporters wouldn't be allowed in Amsterdam outside of the so called 'combi-regeling' (organised transport under police supervision). In a reaction to this decision the PSV board decided to stay home and not take any supporters to Amsterdam either. And now (once again) a majority of the people io Holland, fired up by the media are acting like 'the hooligans' (I guess they mean all fanatic football supporters who have organized in 'sides') have done it again, and like football is going to die soon if drastic measures are not taken. The problem? The problem is that the media are calling the PSV supporters who delayed the bus hooligans. The problem is that the KNVB chairman is telling PSV chairman v Raaij (who said he could relate to the PSV fans) an idiot because he decided to talk to them instead of sending the riot squad over to beat them away. The problem is that in the media certain people talk about the action of PSV supporters and the sent letters as if they have anything to do with each other. That's pretty odd since nobody knows who wrote these letters. I myself can hardly believe that they were sent by football supporters. And if they were, they were certainly solo actions and not planned by a group of people. A. there is nothing to gain by doing this. B. there is a lot to lose by doing this. Now, the season is coming to a start soon... and a new problem arises. The capacity of sections that are intended for visiting fans. This is a problem that has been going on for years. Last year the KNVB and the SOVS (a foundation that aims to protect the interests of football supporters) agreed that every club has to keep a segregated 10% of their stadium capacity open for visiting fans with a maximum of 1600. But the capacity has only decreased at most clubs, and it doesn't seem like the KNVB are going to do anything to enforce their own rules. It seems now that several Dutch supportersgroups are planning actions. The idea is that all groups work together and each group get their own task so no groups will meet (to prevent riots). It is not yet known what these actions will be but the autorities know and fear that the groups are organized enough to put the whole country to a running halt. Rumours have it that the Holland -Belarus qualification match in Eindhoven in september might be the target for the actions. What's the problem? According to media and KNVB it's just a bunch of hooligans looking for trouble. Funny how every stinking little protest group gets to have their say, except football supporters. And when the supporters take action, they're just hooligans. Especially the media (who usually have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to supporters) are good at judging supporters and making them look bad, especially the Telegraaf. A newspaper that is known for not being to accurate when it comes to the truth, is very good at this. Well, I guess we'll all just have to see what happens. PS. Ajax - PSV 3-1... it's starting to look quite good!
Aren't death threats common? I believe the Feyenoord chant you were referring to was about Jews being burned in ovens and then "Sssssss!" Sick bastards. Also what is the status of NAC and other Dutch clubs that were in dire financial trouble? Thanks
The feyenoord chant was "hamas, hamas, alle joden aan het gas' (hamas hamas, all jews on gas). It's a bit of a morbid song but it's directed towards Ajax fans, not the Jewish community. This song has been around for 10 years or something. Death threats are not common, no. And all Ducth clubs in financial trouble have been saved once again.