NOS Football•today, 6:57 PM
Of course, interim director Edwin Reijntjes of Vitesse was also shocked by the penalty of eighteen points deduction that the KNVB licensing committee imposed on the club last week because the licensing requirements had not been met. “So much had never happened before. It shows the seriousness of the situation.”
The huge points penalty followed after Vitesse had withheld information and had not been transparent on more than one occasion.
“It is also a signal to the other clubs: ‘Guys, if you do not deliver the things as we expect you to deliver them, then you have a problem’. So I was shocked, but that was only for a moment, because then you have to move on,” says the man who jumped on board with Vitesse at the beginning of April together with advisor Paul van der Kraan.
Suffered not long ago
After all, the suffering is far from over for Vitesse, which was already rapidly heading for relegation from the Premier League and could no longer be saved due to the imposed sanction. Although the points deduction was accompanied by retention of the license, the word ‘provisional’ is included.
“The letter from the licensing committee indicated that the imposed sanction applies to a number of matters,” Reijntjes explains. “You can read between the lines that more points will be discussed and that apparently not everything was discussed in the meeting of April 15. So it could be that there is more to come. The past is certainly not yet closed.”
The license may therefore still be in jeopardy. Reijntjes: “It is clear that we have gone through the eye of the needle. The license has not yet been taken away. That is also how it was communicated: it has not yet been taken away. But the fact that there is a new board is apparently a concern for the licensing committee. signal that a bond of trust can be created again.”
Friday
That is why Reijntjes is so happy that they can sit at the table at the licensing committee on Friday instead of having to exchange letters. “That was an objective in itself for us and is definitely an advantage. The licensing committee was no longer very Vitesse-minded, because they often did not receive complete items.”
The expectations for the conversation with the licensing committee are not high. “We mainly come to explain how we want to solve our problems and will explain our plan in detail. But for us it is already very special that they sit down with us. That is a huge step.”
Apart from the licensing issues, there is still a lot of work to be done. What about producing a balanced budget before June 15, the day it must be submitted to the KNVB. “That is in six weeks. And we do not yet have the millions that are needed. A lot of water still has to flow through the Rhine to achieve that.”
Reijntjes is hopeful that investors who will make Vitesse a healthy club again will be found. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here. Then I would say: it’s done, stop. But it’s getting tight. Time is our greatest enemy.”
