'Pity but understandable,' says Ajax legend Van der Sar of Eredivisie cancellation

Ajax CEO and former goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar admitted that it is 'understandable' that the Dutch Eredivisie season has been declared null and void as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Ajax were level at the top of the table with AZ Alkmaar, with just nine games remaining, before the Dutch Football Association decided to cancel the remainder of the season and in doing so denying the Amsterdam club the chance of back-to-back titles.

"It is a pity we haven't been able to become champion but given the situation we are in, it is understandable," Van der Sar said.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Dutch soccer league was canceled on Friday and leading team Ajax won’t be declared the champion.

The Eredivisie is the first top-tier European league to end its season prematurely because of the coronavirus crisis, but its decision sparked instant complaints from clubs who felt they had lost out.

Belgium could ratify an end to its season on Monday.

Ajax was level on points with second-placed AZ Alkmaar but ahead on goal difference when the league was suspended on March 12. The Dutch soccer federation, known as the KNVB, said Ajax was considered to be on top of the final standings but won’t be awarded a 35th national title.

“As players and club, you want to become champion on the pitch. We’ve been at the top of the league all year so it’s a shame we haven’t been crowned champions, but given the current situation it’s understandable,” Ajax CEO Edwin Van Der Sar said in a video on the club website.

“There are more important things than football, but as a player you have the ambition to be champion.”

AZ said it wasn’t happy with the ruling, which would see Ajax enter the Champions League at a later stage than AZ.

“We are disappointed that we are now forced to make it clear in this crisis that we do not agree with the way in which the Board of Professional Football has brought about the allocation of European places,” AZ said in a statement.

The KNVB added it will allocate Champions League and Europa League spots by the current standings.

ADVERTISEMENT

Among the clubs to lose out was Utrecht, which was sixth, three points behind fifth-placed Willem II, which occupied the last Europa League spot. However, Utrecht played one game less and had a superior goal difference.

Utrecht said in a statement “there is no doubt” it deserved a place in European competition.

There will be no promotion or relegation, meaning Cambuur won’t go up to the Eredivisie despite having a four-point lead at the top of the second division.

“It feels like the biggest scandal ever in Dutch sport,” Cambuur coach Henk de Jong told the national broadcaster NOS.

The decision came three days after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that a ban on large gatherings, including professional sports matches, was extended to Sept. 1.