Ajax and Groningen had barely stepped foot on the pitch when their clash on Sunday evening was abandoned. The repeated use of fireworks by Ajax fans caused the game to be cancelled after just five minutes. The pyro techniques were set off as a tribute to a supporter who had recently died. While there was an attempt to restart the game, it was eventually abandoned due to the fireworks.
Shashi Panday is Ajaxโs financial director but also in charge of security. He told ESPN after the game that, while they knew that something was planned, they were unable to stop it from happening and disrupting the game. Panday said โWe took every measure we could. We were overwhelmed by the scale, number, and severityโ.
The game will now go ahead on Tuesday without any fans in attendance. Ajax will hope that, even without their usual home support, they can get their season back on track with a victory. The club have lost four games in a row, with just one win since the 27th of September. Ajax are now under the direction of interim head coach Fred Grim, but things have hardly improved since he took over. Ajax sit sixth in the Eredivisie but have seen a gap of 17 points open up between themselves and league leaders PSV.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
