football

A report raising concerns about fire safety and structural integrity of AFAS stadium that was released shortly before the new stadium opened in 2006, was ignored by the Alkmaar city council and office of mayor and aldermen, former alderman Victor Kloos said to De Stentor. 

"We warned about it at the time. In the meantime, I have requested all documents, investigations and reports from that time from the municipality", party leader Kloos of OPA - currently the largest party in the Alkmaar city council - said to the newspaper. 

One person was killed, and separately a portion of the AFAS Stadion roof collapsed as heavy winds gripped the Netherlands on Saturday. Wind gusts in IJmuiden, at the North Sea coast, even topped 104 kilometers per hour.

A bicyclist died at about 2:30 p.m. in Linschoten, Utrecht, when the heavy winds toppled a tree, which sent it crashing down on a bike path along the Haardijk. The tree struck the victim, a 58-year-old man from Lopik, a town 15 kilometers away from the accident.

Tom Egbers suffered a heart attack while on vacation. The 61-year-old NOS Studio Sport presenter will therefore be off screen for a while, NOS announced on Tuesday.

Egbers is doing well, but needs time to rest and recover, according to the broadcaster.

For the time being, his colleagues Henry Schut and Sjoerd van Ramhorst will stand in for him. Schut will lead the Eredivisie broadcast of Studio Sport at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. And Van Ramshorst will be the gest host of Studio Voetbal later in the evening. 

The new Eredivisie season starts this weekend. 

The Oranje Lionesses are not holding a grudge against the United States for beating them in the World Cup final on Sunday, or at least not according to a photo posted by Dutch player Shanice van de Sanden on Instagram. The photo shows her partying with American player Megan Rapinoe. 

Disappointed, but proud. Those three words sum up the emotions of the Oranje Lionesses after their 2-0 loss against the United States in the World Cup final in Lyon on Sunday. "Sure there is disappointment, but we had a fantastic tournament. This is now the result, and I am very proud", goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal said to NOS. 

The World Cup final against the United States on Sunday is extra special for Dominique Bloodworth. Because while she is playing for the Oranje Lionesses, she is married to an American. Despite this conflict of interest, the Oranje defender knows her in-laws support her and plans to make them proud, she said to NU.nl.

Football lovers who already bought tickets to attend a festival in the Netherlands this weekend, do not need to despair. A number of festivals realize that you can be both a music- and a football fan, and are therefore making arrangements to show the World Cup final between the Oranje Lionesses and the United States on Sunday.

Dutch football association KNVB is critical of the amount in prize money FIFA made available for the Women's World Cup - a total of around 26.5 million euros. While that is double the amount available four years ago, it is still a pittance compared to the 355 million euros paid to the men after the World Cup in Russia. "Yes, they doubled it, but if you double something that is nothing, it is still nothing", KNVB director Jan Dirk van der Zee said to the Telegraaf.

From next season the Ajax women's team will have their own collective bargaining agreement, the Amsterdam football club announced. Ajax is the first Dutch club to give its women's team their own labor agreement. Ajax called this the next step in professionalizing women's football.

Dutch football association KNVB suspended a 34-year-old linesman from Haarlem football club Geel-Wit for three years for punching an UNO goalkeeper unconscious in March. The suspension is backdated to April 1st. The man may only again join a football club in 2022, a spokesperson for the KNVB confirmed to NU.nl after reports in Noordhollands Dagblad.

The Oranje women are kicking off their World Cup journey with their first match against New Zealand in Le Havre on Tuesday afternoon. The Dutch national women's team had their last training session, with the full selection, on Monday and are excited to get started.