Jeanet van der Laan’s eternal struggle against prejudice in football | Football

Voormalig Feyenoord-voorzitter Jorien van den Herik ziet het niet zitten dat Van der Laan voorzitter van de KNVB wordt. Met directeur betaald voetbal Marianne van Leeuwen zit er al een vrouw in de top van de bond en dat is genoeg, vindt hij. “Twee dames in de top, dat wordt oorlog”, zei Van den Herik twee weken geleden bij ESPN.

Twee uur later reageerde Van der Laan op X. “Ik deal al dertig jaar met zulke vooroordelen”, schreef ze. “Daarom blijf ik volhouden: voetbal is van en vóór iedereen.”

Dat voetbal niet altijd van iedereen en vóór iedereen is en was, maakte Van der Laan als jonge en talentvolle voetballer al mee. Op haar vijftiende mocht ze ineens niet meer meespelen bij de jongens van Lisse B1. De KNVB verbood het.

“Ik was rechtsback in het team dat ongeslagen kampioen werd”, vertelt Van der Laan, in een gesprek met NU.nl. “We promoveerden naar de Derde Divisie Landelijk. In de KNVB-reglementen stond dat dat een voorportaal was van het betaalde voetbal. En omdat er destijds voor een meisje geen perspectief was op betaald voetbal, mocht ik niet meer meedoen. Ja, dat werd wel een dingetje.”

The girl who fought for a place in a boys’ team made the newspaper. “It’s even on it Youth news and on the radio,” Van der Laan remembers. “I gave a speech to KNVB directors to convince them that it was not fair. It was as if gray heads from the KNVB were deciding about me even though they had never seen me play football. That was literally my text. It felt like discrimination.”

Her club FC Lisse even considered filing summary proceedings against the KNVB, but that turned out not to be necessary. Within a few weeks, the regulations were adjusted so that Van der Laan was also allowed to play football in the Third Division with the B1 boys.

“It was only later that I realized that I had also made a breakthrough for girls after me. Not yet at the time. I wanted to continue playing football with the buddies on my team.”

29 years later, Van der Laan is playing football again for FC Lisse, but as a right half in a veteran team. Laughing: “I’m now trying to close the gaps for the other veterans.” She comes from a football family. Her brother and her 76-year-old father are also on her team. And her three sons also play football, one of whom is in Sparta’s youth academy.

Van der Laan himself never played for a professional football club. The Women’s Eredivisie did not yet exist when she experienced her peak years as a football player. She played 29 times for the Dutch team at the beginning of this century and combined this with a study of Dutch.

A political career followed. Van der Laan was a councilor and then alderman in Lisse. In recent years she has sat in the House of Representatives on behalf of D66. She now hopes to be elected chairman of the KNVB at the association meeting on May 27 in Zeist.

There are still two candidates: former FC Groningen director Hans Nijland and Amsterdam police chief Frank Paauw. Van den Herik also put himself forward as a candidate, but decided against it last Friday.

As the only woman in the foursome, Van der Laan’s candidacy evokes reactions, positive and negative. Again it is about Van der Herik’s words, about two women and war. “That comment just brought out the fighting girl in me. Van den Herik dismisses half the population as troublemakers. As a director, I would never say something like that. I don’t expect anyone else to do that either.”

“But yes, it is. You shouldn’t exclude anyone. Whether you are 80, like Van den Herik. Or 65 or 44. You can have ambition. Look at the job profile, it’s about suitability. Fortunately, there are a lot of men who think the same way.”

If Van der Laan becomes chairman, she wants to continue working on a football culture that is for everyone. “Man or woman, gay or straight. That shouldn’t matter. But also a culture in which you can name things without being put away.”

“If I now say that there are still homophobic expressions in men’s football, then I am too woke. And if I comment on the plans of the new club Hera, which will be exclusively for women, then I am not feminist enough. contradictions, that compartmentalized thinking has to get out of our football.”

Football can be an example for society, Van der Laan believes. “Moreover, society needs football. A football club is one of the few places where everyone comes together. Whatever you vote, whether you believe or not. At a football club you encounter everything.”

“You don’t think that everyone in my team votes D66, do you? A PVV member and a D66 member can play football together and interact normally. You should cherish that. Especially in these times.”

“Society has become more individualistic. That bothers me. I am a team athlete, that is why I love club life so much. People who are willing to do something for others. Society has also become harder, I also noticed that in my political years .

“Politics in The Hague is tough. Unlike ten or fifteen years ago, people are often played on. And look at all the threats and comments that come to a politician via social media and email. For me as a woman, that often had a sexist connotation. .And usually anonymous. Never to my face.”

Have you started looking at football differently through your years as a Member of Parliament?

“Perhaps I have come to realize even more that society needs sport and therefore also football. The reason for me to enter politics was to translate sport into policy. I had to fight against unwillingness and triviality.

“Politicians enjoy being in the stands at an important match. But if money has to be made available for sports, it’s a different story. I’ve always been surprised about that. Sports deserve to be fought for.”

“Yes, but I am not an activist. I find things, but I also understand that there are people who find something different. As a director you have to look where there is space and maneuver.”

As chairman of the federation, will you sit in the stands in Saudi Arabia when the World Cup is held there?

“Understand me correctly, I would rather not have them organize a World Cup in countries with such regimes. But I do think that the Dutch team should play football there if FIFA makes that choice. Only then can you have an impact. That is why I would also like to take a seat in the stands.”

With a One Love band on?

“That’s a good question. I would consider whether that has the right effect. It is not my style to go through the china shop like an elephant. I think you achieve more with a diplomatic style. Think years before such a World Cup already think about how you want to promote our Western values. And how you can have an impact. Football should also be for everyone.”

Is professional football in the Netherlands also for and for everyone? Players from Eredivisie clubs recently took action because they earn so little that professional football is actually out of the question.

“Something has to be done. The KNVB’s strategic plan states that women’s football must be further professionalized. You can’t just write that down, it must also lead to results. If you want to create a top sports environment, that requires a decent salary. No part-time job to make ends meet.”

You can also say: that’s just how the market works. Far fewer people buy a ticket for a women’s football match than for the men’s.

“I don’t think you should compare the revenue model of men with that of women. The revenue model is different. The question is also at what pace you have to professionalize. But you should not only look at the finances, it is also about the social value of women’s football. That must play a role.”

When you, as a football player, belonged to the top of the Netherlands, there was no Eredivisie at all. With the Dutch team you often played at an amateur complex.

“As a football player, I would have preferred to have been born ten years later. Of course. I would have loved to play in big stadiums and become European champion. I also had no female role models. I loved Paolo Maldini. Now girls have Lieke Martens or Vivianne Miedema as examples. women’s football has come a long way and we have already come a long way.

“But the development is not over yet. The playing field must be completely open. And a female chairman of the KNVB, the largest sports association in the Netherlands, would be a great next step. Football is for and for everyone.”