The final battle for the KNVB Cup between Feyenoord and NEC had to be temporarily stopped twice due to large-scale fireworks. In one of the cases, a banner in the canal caught fire, followed by a lot of smoke development. When evaluating the cup final, all parties take partial responsibility, but also point out to each other how the presence of the fireworks could have been prevented.
The KNVB is officially the organizer of the final and rents De Kuip for this purpose. The football association says it has searched as many spectators as possible by deploying its own stewards and those of the stadium. In addition, the stadium was monitored and inspected several days prior to the final day for the presence of fireworks that had already been smuggled in. “Yet fireworks entered the stadium. It is impossible to say how, for example because people hide them in intimate places of their body, where – according to the rules – you are not allowed to search thoroughly. So the stewards cannot be blamed for that.” , the football association said.
The KNVB believes it has taken the necessary measure and says that the clubs are always responsible for their own supporters. Losing finalist NEC does not want to respond to the KNVB’s position. “It has been known for a long time that intimate parts are not allowed to be searched, for example. One hundred percent control is therefore difficult,” said a Nijmegen spokesperson. Feyenoord does not want to respond to the football association’s claims at all and refers to the stadium for a response.
However, Feijenoord Stadium, as the stadium is officially called, also does not take full responsibility. As a landlord, it claims to be a supporting party. “We will of course support the KNVB in their efforts to ensure that competitions like these run as well as possible, as we have been doing for a long time,” said a spokesperson.
