Dutch Championship faces risk of canceling 133 matches; understand

A legal and documentary controversy threatens the validity of more than half of the matches in the current edition of the Dutch Championship, the Eredivisie. With just a few rounds remaining until the end of the competition, which has already seen PSV crowned early champions, the league is dealing with the risk of canceling and rescheduling up to 133 matches.

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The problem, which has been called “Paspoortgate” (Passport Scandal) by the local press, is related to the selection of players who played without the work visa required by the country's laws.

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Origin of the legal impasse

The controversy is based on Dutch legislation on dual nationality. Citizens of the country automatically lose their local nationality when they voluntarily acquire another citizenship. Several athletes born in the Netherlands have recently chosen to defend the national teams of countries with which they have ancestral ties, such as Suriname, Indonesia, Cape Verde, Togo and Trinidad and Tobago.

By making this sporting choice, the players gave up their European passport, becoming considered non-EU citizens. In order to continue carrying out their professional activities in the Netherlands, it was mandatory to issue a formal work permit, a procedure that, according to the complaints, was not carried out by the employing clubs.

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The scandal came to light sharply after NAC Breda filed a lawsuit. The relegation-battling club suffered a 6-0 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles in mid-March. After the match, the defeated team accused the opponent of irregularly fielding full-back Dean James, who was born in the Netherlands, but naturalized to represent Indonesia.

NAC Breda's lawyer argued at a recent preliminary hearing that the case is purely about the infringement of an eligibility rule. The club filed an initial complaint with the Royal Dutch Football Federation (KNVB), which chose to maintain the result of the game, leading the NAC to appeal to the common court in the city of Utrecht, whose decision could set a massive precedent for the entire league.

Developments at clubs and the impact on the Eredivise

The Go Ahead Eagles case did not prove to be isolated. Surveys by the Dutch press and the KNVB indicate that at least 13 Eredivisie players would be in the same irregular situation, distributed among squads of eight different teams.

Faced with the legal threat, clubs such as NEC Nijmegen and Groningen anticipated and provisionally removed players Tjaronn Chery and Etienne Vaessen from their squads for not having compliant passports. NAC Breda's movement also found support from other clubs, such as Ajax and Feyenoord, considering joining similar processes or supporting the initial action.

KNVB lawyer, Michiel van Dijk, warned that the issue directly affects 11 players and involves 133 games already played in the Eredivise, pointing out that the continuation of such actions would make the completion of the professional calendar unfeasible.

The director of the Dutch federation, Marianne van Leeuwen, criticized the judicialization of the championship, stating that a possible decision to repeat games will cause irreparable damage to the image of the Eredivisie and will generate a situation she classifies as chaotic for football in the country.

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