1010.html
Zlatan turns down KNVB settlement proposal
10 October: NOS Teletekst reports that Zlatan Ibrahimovic
has turned down the settlement of an unconditional five game
suspension for the foul he committed against FC Groningen on 30 September, as
proposed by the public prosecutor of the KNVB. The case is now
to appear in the court of the KNVB disciplinary committee.
The Swede hit FC Groningen defender Melchior Schoenmakers in
the neck with his elbow during FC Groningen vs Ajax (1-4). The
foul went unnoticed by referee Dick Jol, but the KNVB
prosecutor immediately announced to start an investigation of
the incident, based on television footage.
The prosecutor came up with a settlement proposal, which
Zlatan had to either accept or turn down before 9:30 AM Dutch
time, today. He went for the latter, which means that - pending
the case - Zlatan is allowed to play tonight's home game
against NEC.
His availability for tonight's game may well have been one
of the reasons for Zlatan and Ajax to pass the case on to the
disciplinary committee. Ajax will have to miss out on Egyptian
striker Mido, who did not quite recover from a concussion yet.
If Zlatan would have accepted the settlement proposed, the five
game suspension would have been effective immediately. Ajax
would then have played NEC without both of its new
strikers.
On AT5 television, Co Adriaanse already revealed that Ajax
handed Zlatan a fine for his behaviour. Adriaanse said: "You
simply can't behave like this if you're a footballer,
especially if you're a footballer at Ajax." The Ajax coach did
not reveal the amount of money involved, but underscored that
"it's definitely not an insignificant tip".
A verdict from the KNVB disciplinary committee is expected
soon. Note that this is a domestic KNVB case, which does not
affect UEFA games, such as next week's UEFA Cup tie with FC
Copenhagen. (MP)
(Sources: Ajax.nl and AT5 television)
Related links:
