Court rejects NAC Breda bid to replay match over player’s work permit breach
A Dutch court has ruled that NAC Breda’s request to have its Eredivisie match against Go Ahead Eagles replayed will not be granted after rejecting the club’s claim over the participation of ineligible defender Dean James.
The ruling confirms that the March 15 match, which NAC lost 6-0 in Deventer, will not be replayed despite claims that Go Ahead Eagles fielded a player who was not properly eligible under KNVB rules.
The dispute centers on Dean James, a Go Ahead Eagles defender who played in the match even though he had lost his Dutch nationality in 2025 after choosing to represent the Indonesian national team. That change meant he was considered playing without a valid work permit under Dutch football regulations.
NAC Breda argued that the match should be replayed because of that eligibility issue. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) acknowledged there was a regulatory concern but decided not to order a replay, citing widespread uncertainty over how the rules applied at the time.
The court ruled that the KNVB’s decision was “not in conflict with KNVB regulations and also not in conflict with the requirements of reasonableness and fairness,” effectively backing the federation’s position.
The judge also said it is “sufficiently plausible” that a full civil court case would not overturn the decision. However, NAC can still bring a full court case on the merits to seek a final and binding ruling.
NAC said it will first study the judgment before deciding whether to continue legal action. “After that, we will discuss it with our advisers and only then make further statements,” the club said.
The KNVB welcomed the outcome, warning earlier that forcing a replay could create major disruption. The federation had said it feared “chaos” if NAC succeeded, including the possibility of broader legal challenges affecting the entire Eredivisie season.
According to the KNVB, in total 133 Eredivisie matches have involved players who were at some point not fully eligible. The federation said replaying such a volume of games would be impossible.
Among players mentioned in the wider eligibility discussion were NEC captain Tjaronn Chery and FC Groningen goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen, who also experienced periods of ineligibility.
