Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb has announced that Sunday’s match between fierce rivals AFC Ajax and Feyenoord has been postponed due to safety concerns.
The clash, known as De Klassieker, was set to take place at De Kuip stadium this weekend but there are fears that a lack of police presence in the area will put both players and supporters of both clubs at risk.
Ajax and Feyenoord have played out some brutal matches in years gone by, with the rivalry between the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam not being limited to the confines of a football pitch and dating back way beyond the two clubs being formed.
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It was announced this week that Rotterdam police would be joining a nationwide strike which is set to span over 24 hours in the hope of gaining a 'good early retirement scheme'. Thus, it was ruled that it would not be safe for De Klassieker, which was set to take place at 1.30pm on Sunday, to go ahead.
In a statement released by Aboutaleb, he explained: “This is a decision that I have taken in consultation with the safety triangle.
“The safety of the players, but also of the public, cannot be sufficiently guaranteed without the deployment of the police. This decision was communicated to the parties involved this afternoon."
Several hundred police officers are usually in attendance at the matches as part of carefully constructed plans to stop violence from breaking out. Last season, unsavoury scenes prompted the match to be paused twice as fireworks were thrown onto the pitch, with some officers being injured after an announcement was made to suspend the clash.
Thus, with a lack of police presence available this weekend, the Dutch FA (KNVB) confirmed that football must take a step backwards and allow the appropriate conversations to take place between authorities.
Their statement read: “The government and the police are both important partners of football. That is why we as football can never stand between these parties. We call on them to enter into discussions with each other.
"Early retirement is being discussed explicitly in politics and we would have liked to see this discussion concluded before action was taken. We hope that the parties will reach a starting point before the weekend and that the Klassieker can then continue as normal on Sunday."
