Sports

The parliamentary debate on the national budget on Thursday was apparently not exciting enough to keep the attention of all those present. Ministers Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security and Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management were caught watching football while Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke.

Former football player Fernando Ricksen died of degenerative muscle disease ALS at the age of 43 on Wednesday. Many of the football teams he played for responded with sadness to his death.

Ricksen was diagnosed with ALS in 2013. He had been staying in a hospice in Scotland since the start of this year and had already announced that he would die there, according to NU.nl. Over the past weeks, the footballer was only able to move his eyes, but could still communicate through a speech computer. 

With one swing of the bat, Kalian Sams secured a victory for the Dutch national baseball team over Italy in the one-game final of the 2019 European Championships. The 33-year-old outfielder belted a grand slam off Italian left-handed starting pitcher Luis Lugo that sailed over the center field wall in the fifth inning.

An error and a wild pitch preceded the go-ahead homer, and was followed by a solo home run from John Pollonius. Alberto Mineo’s home run in the bottom of the fifth was the last run of the game, setting the final score of 5-1.

The Human Power Team, a student team from TU Delft and VU Amsterdam, broke the female cycling world speed record a the World Human Powered Speed Challenge in the United States on Monday. Athlete Rosa Bas reached a top speed of 122.12 kilometers per hour with the team's self-made aerodynamic recumbent bike, breaking the old record of 121.8 km.h, TU Delft announced.

"We worked towards this for a year and now we have succeeded", Bas said about the record. "It is amazing to cycle so fast. I went faster than cars are allowed to drive on this road."

The partial collapse of the AFAS Stadion roof earlier this month was caused by the downward force of heavy winds. The stadium, home of Alkmaar-based football club AZ, will now undergo a renovation in which roughly 75 percent of the roof will be renovated or replaced.

With a 2-0 victory over APOEL Nicosia on Wednesday, Ajax is officially through to the Champions League. Coach Erik ten Hag and the team are delighted. "It feels like doping", Ten Hag said to RTL Nieuws after the match.

The first goal was scored in the first half of the match by Edson Alvarez, with an assist from Hakim Ziyech. The second was scored in the second half by captain Dusan Tadic, with an assist from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

The Dutch women's field hockey team won the European Championships in Antwerp on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Germany. With the European title in hand, the Dutch women also won a place in the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year. The team and coach Alyson Annan are delighted, NU.nl reports. 

Rabobank is no longer taking professional football clubs as clients due to "raised to unacceptable risks of money laundering, corruption, fraud and other abuses", NRC reports based on an internal message the bank circulated this summer. Rabobank employees are also no longer allowed "to take on new managerial or supervisory positions" at professional football organizations due to a "potential conflict of interest", the message said. 

Wesley Sneijder is no longer playing professional football, the 35-year-old midfielder said almost in passing when announcing that he had "signed" with FC Utrecht. In reality, the signing was with the FC Utrecht Business Club, which gives fans access to skyboxes, hospitality lounges, and special events.

"My feeling for the city is great. Now that I have stopped playing football, I want to have a nice place to share my memories", he said to FC Utrecht TV. The native Utrechter decided to rent out a sky box in the Galgenwaard stadium.

One of two Dutch men arrested for dealing drugs at popular music festival Sziget in Budapest, Hungary, is 21-year-old Roelf B. - a top sprinter who formed part of the Dutch relay team in the European Championship for athletes under the age of 23, AD reports.

Thursday was a tumultuous day for Dutch football in the third Europea League qualifying rounds. While AZ failed to score a single goal against FC Marioepol despite having 20 shots, Feyenoord managed to score three goals in 10 minutes against Dinamo Tbilisi. The AZ vs FC Marioepol match ended 0-0, the Feyenoord vs Dinamo Tbilisi one ended 4-0.