Mayor Cohen grants permission for Leidseplein celebrations
22 April: During a special press conference at the Amsterdam
city hall mayor Job Cohen announced that the official
celebrations of Ajax's 29th Dutch championship will be allowed
to take place in their traditional location: the central square
of Leidseplein. The shield presentation from the balcony of the
City Theatre was the subject of discussion since the
misbehaviour of Ajax fans at De Toekomst, where Young Feyenoord
players were assaulted after a reserves match.
Mayor Cohen was on vacation when the 'Toekomst riots'
occurred. His stand-in, deputy mayor Mark van der Horst, showed
no mercy with the Ajax supporters: "I simply can not give
permission for a championship party in Leidseplein now, paid
for by the Amsterdammers. This behaviour can not be
rewarded."
The next day Van der Horst imposed a very strict deadline on
Ajax and its supporters: by Wednesday night Van der Horst
wanted the police to have received forty names of fans who were
on the pitch at De Toekomst. "There were 3,500 people there and
many of them must have seen who were on the pitch," Van der
Horst said. "It's about time they show that the Ajax fanbase is
'self-cleaning' and self-regulating. We want club and
supporters to provide us with named by Wednesday. If we know
the names of these people by Wednesday we will re-consider a
ceremony in Leidseplein."
Ajax fans celebrate the
championship in Leidseplein in 2002. [Photo: F-Side.nl]
From the moment mayor Cohen returned from his vacation it
was obvious that he was more merciful than his deputy. His
first comment ("In my opinion our party, towards which we've
been working for a full year, may not be spoiled by forty
hooligans") was followed by a few days of silence and the
announcement that Cohen was going to reveal his decision at a
press conference.
The reason for Cohen to say "yes" to the celebrations
after all is the fact that he is "satisfied" with Ajax's help
to find and punish the fans who invaded the De Toekomst pitch.
The statement read by Ronald Koeman prior to the Ajax vs RBC
Roosendaal match and the response to that statement by the
ArenA crowd was a crucial factor also, said Cohen. "The way the
Ajax supporters reacted to the incidents has convinced me that
they will do everything to make the celebrations pass off
peacefully. I am also convinced that the supporters are well
aware that this will be their last chance."
After having brought the Ajax community the good news Cohen
provided the press with some more information about the police
investigation. He stated that the police now have a clear
picture of what exactly happened at De Toekomst, immediately
after the final whistle. The number of supporters that invaded
the pitch was approximately 70. An estimated 25 of
these supporters had violent intentions and
participated in attacking the Feyenoord team. The actual
kicking and punching of Feyenoord players was done by 5 to 7
people.
Ajax immediately let the mayor know that the club intends
to hand the entire group of some 70 people a 'stadium
ban'. This is the standard KNVB penalty for pitch
invasion. The 25 people who behaved aggressively
and violently can also be legally prosecuted. The
Amsterdam police received an as yet unknown number of names
from Ajax, plus numerous clues from spectators who were in
attendance of the match.
In total 48 people were interrogated by the police so far.
Not all of them are official suspects. Four supporters
were arrested so far. The police had to let three of them go
due to lack of proof. The fourth person was
summoned to appear in court. The police are confident that more
people can and will be arrested soon, although Mr Cohen pointed
out that the investigation might also turn out to be a 'long
term project': "For
instance, the police arrested someone this week
who was involved in the riots priot to Ajax vs Club Brugge in
October of last year. Sometimes you have to look into the facts
really well before arresting a person, in order to be able to
actually prosecute."
The large part of the 48 people interrogated did not
participate in the actual violence, but were on the
pitch. This is a violation of KNVB rules and can the
penalty is a stadium ban. However, pitch invasion is not a
legal offence, so that the police face the legal problem
that the 'pitch invaders' are not official suspects. For
that reason their names may not be forwarded to a third party,
such as - in this case - Ajax or the KNVB, accoring to Dutch
privacy law. If this were allowed it would have been
easy for Ajax to hand all of the 'pitch invaders' a stadium
ban. The lawyers of the Amsterdam city council are
currently studying the options to find a legal way to
provide Ajax with the list of names.
The Leidseplein celebrations will take place on the day Ajax
officially clinches the Dutch Eredivisie championship. This
might be as soon as this Sunday. For that to happen, PSV will
have to lose two points at least in their away game at RBC
Roosendaal on Saturday night. If they do, Ajax will have the
opportunity to claim the championship shield by winning their
Sunday away game at NEC in Nijmegen. Otherwise Amsterdam will
have to wait for at least another week... (MP)
Source: AT5, Ajax.nl, NOS Teletekst
Related links
