Ronald Waterreus believes that hooligans should be denied access to the stadiums for good. The former international mirrors Spain and until then advocates punishing clubs with points deducted.
Things have regularly gone wrong in the Eredivisie and Kitchen Champion Division in recent months. Last week it was hit at Helmond Sport-MVV and Feyenoord-Ajax. “For comparison: around FC Barcelona-Real Madrid, a slightly bigger match than Helmond Sport-MVV, nothing happened last Wednesday that even tended to hooliganism,” Waterreus begins in his column in the Limburger.
The former PSV keeper does not want to pretend that he has the solution. “I do think we can take an example from Spain, where clubs like Barca and Real resolutely denied their ultras access to their stadiums twenty years ago. The message: you just don’t come in anymore. Never again. Since then El Clásico usually goes without problems,’ he says. ‘So we have to go in that direction in the Netherlands as well. Every club management knows that one or two percent of hooligans among its supporters. It is therefore up to the clubs to permanently ban those people.’
If clubs fail, there is only one solution, according to Waterreus. If they don’t, the club should immediately be deducted a point if the fans misbehave. And on the next offense two. And so forth. Then no championship for Feyenoord, then no play-offs for MVV. Honestly? No of course not. But it does ensure that clubs, after all that poultice and wetness of recent years, finally really take a stand against those scumbags among their guests. That’s the only way hooliganism dies out.’
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