Dutch FA to appeal against Vitesse licence court ruling

The Dutch football association KNVB said on Wednesday it plans to appeal against a court ruling that restored Arnhem club Vitesse’s professional licence.

The KNVB said it had taken the decision to appeal “in the interests of professional football”.

Judges at an emergency hearing in August had ruled that the club could be suspended after what the KNVB described as a “multi-year pattern of deception, evasion and undermining of the licensing system” that was “structural, serious and persistent”.

The ruling meant the 133-year-old club, the second-oldest professional side in the Netherlands, disappeared from the Dutch first division with immediate effect.

However, the appeal court said in September it considered it likely that the decisions would not stand when the main case is heard. “This is because they were taken under great time pressure and therefore not with the highest possible degree of care,” the court said.

The judges added that extra caution was needed because the sanction was “the most far-reaching it could be for a professional football club”. The reinstated club is currently eighth in the first division.

The KNVB said on Wednesday the aim of the appeal is to “gain clarity about the way in which the courts can review decisions made by KNVB bodies (in this case the licensing committee and the licensing appeals committee)”.

Vitesse said it was “disappointed and surprised” by the KNVB’s decision and that it would have an immediate impact on the club.

“In recent months we’ve been heading in the right direction as a club and believed we were in constructive talks with the KNVB,” club director Ben Mansvelder said. “This appeal certainly affects us, but we won’t be discouraged and will continue working on Vitesse’s future.”

Clubs playing in the two professional Dutch leagues and the top-tier amateur sides support the decision, because it is in the interests of the game to have an independent licensing and appeals committee, broadcaster NOS reported.