Valentijn Driessen has nothing good to say about the Feyenoord fans who set off fireworks at SC Cambuur's stadium on Sunday. The De Telegraaf football editor believes away supporters should be banned altogether.
After 12 minutes in Leeuwarden, the match was halted when large quantities of fireworks were set off from the away end in the South Stand. Cambuur say it did not end there, with fireworks also fired towards the pitch and the surrounding stands.
Those consequences now appear more serious than first reported. In an official statement, Cambuur say five supporters were injured and are not doing well. They are suffering mainly from burns, hearing damage and eye injuries. ''It goes without saying that all care and attention are focused on these injured supporters and everyone at the club is enormously sympathetic,'' the club write.
Calling out the Feyenoord fans who set off the fireworks and caused major consternation, Driessen said: ''They are simply criminals, of course. It was an organised action. I happened to have contact with someone, and he said it was for fun. If this is what you get your pleasure from, you're not right in the head.''
Now he wants the KNVB to come down hard at last. ''I argue for it every time: stop with away supporters. Then you get rid of a whole lot of trouble. Feyenoord v Ajax is played on a Saturday evening. And that is possible, because there are no Ajax supporters. Lovely, isn't it?''
What also leaves Driessen stunned is how the Feyenoord support managed to get so many fireworks and flares into the Cambuur stadium. ''If you then clear the place out, you might be bringing all sorts of misery on yourself. The mayor will naturally have taken that into consideration. Because it would have been very normal to clear out that section.''
As for Feyenoord, Driessen believes the club must now take a close look at who was there. ''But I think Feyenoord really need to look carefully at who was there. Normally speaking that is not a problem, because you have gold club card holders or something like that. This away end was absolutely packed. So I think a great many slipped through the net. Those were the troublemakers responsible for those horrific scenes,'' Driessen said.