Passport issue continues to plague Dutch football despite temporary fixes
In the media image: Emilio Garcia on Unsplash
The passport issue concerning ineligible football players seemed to have been resolved, but NAC Breda can cause new unrest with a lawsuit. Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Professor of European Law and sports law expert, comments in ‘NRC’ and ‘Voetbalnieuws’.
At the end of March, NAC Breda – currently in the relegation zone – submitted a request to the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) declaring the lost match against Go Ahead Eagles invalid and requesting a rematch. The football club from Brabant stated that Dean James, now an Indonesian international, was not eligible to play, because he had lost his Dutch nationality and did not have a work permit. However, the KNVB rejected this, because James was not an isolated case and the situation could have far-reaching consequences for all Dutch professional football teams. In addition, the football association stated that the clubs involved did not know what the consequences were of hiring a player of a different nationality. They say there was no malicious intent involved.
Van den Bogaert can certainly understand the point of view that there was no malicious intent, but he finds it worrying that both the KNVB and the clubs did not know about the legislation on the matter. The professor says he has often noticed 'that the knowledge of the law within the sports world is sometimes inadequate'.
NAC Breda could still take its case to the civil courts. Since the club is currently in the relegation zone of the Dutch premier league, that is definitely a possibility. Van den Bogaert believes the club could then possibly be vindicated. 'If a team fields a player who is not eligible to play, it is likely that it will lose this case in court. After all, everyone is supposed to know the law.'
Read the full articles in NRC (€) and on Voetbalnieuws.
Also read the article in Trouw (€), where Stefaan Van den Bogaert discusses the lawsuit that has now been filed.