The investigation into Dean James’s eligibility to play has been concluded by the KNVB’s independent prosecutor for professional football. The association will not be taking any action, it stated in a press release.
Following the Go Ahead Eagles – NAC match (6-0), the Breda-based club submitted a request to have the match declared void, on the grounds that James was no longer eligible to play due to his Indonesian nationality.
The defender swapped his Dutch nationality for Indonesian in March. Under Dutch law, James was therefore not automatically permitted to play.
“It is not for the prosecutor to determine a person’s nationality,” the KNVB stated in a press release. The association also noted that the IND has established that James has indeed lost his Dutch citizenship and, according to the regulations, has not been eligible to play since March 2025.
The professional football prosecutor will therefore not take any disciplinary action, as neither the player nor the club were aware of the automatic consequences of a change of nationality.
Clubs are now expected to be aware of the regulations with immediate effect. The Passportgate caused considerable unrest: Tjaronn Chery (NEC) and Etiënne Vaessen (FC Groningen), for example, were barred from training.
The Passportgate scandal has therefore fizzled out. Go Ahead Eagles can therefore field James and Richonell Margaret as normal this Saturday, whilst Vaessen had already collected his EU sticker at FC Groningen and was eligible to play against Telstar (0-2).