Death threats against football referee sparks investigation

Dutch football association KNVB is investigating death threats spectators of Zeeland football team VC Vlissingen made against a referee and his assistants, KNVB press officer Bram de Groot announced.

"Referees should be treated with respect, so we are taking this very seriously", De Groot said, according to newspaper AD.

The threats were made after the match between VC Vlissingen and UDI'19 on November 15th. The referee and his two assistants were in the dressing rooms when they heard one or more people say: "I'll destroy them". The door of the dressing room was closed, so they could not see who made the threat.

VC Vlissingen supporters were quite upset after the match due to a red card given to Geraldi Geerman after the final whistle. One of the referee assistants heard him insult the referee. Geerman was initially banned from five matches, but this was reduced to three after an appeal.

The football club filed a statement of defense with the KNVB.