Ajax were forced to abandon their game with Groningen on Sunday night after only five minutes after fans set off a fireworks display inside the Johan Cruyff Arena
Ajax saw their clash with Groningen on Sunday night abandoned after only five minutes after fans set off a fireworks display inside the Johan Cruyff Arena.
The game had only just kicked off when it had to be halted, with the referee eventually having no choice but to call the game off. Groningen were in possession in the 5th minute when fireworks started to explode above the stand behind the Ajax goal.
Players stopped and headed in the opposite direction to the mega fireworks display and were escorted back down the tunnel. Fireworks continued when there were no players on the pitch for well over a minute.
The fireworks display was done as a way of paying respect to a fan who had passed away, according to reports.
The officials eventually abandoned the game because they could not guarantee the safety of the players as Ajax were left fuming, releasing a statement where they made it clear they would be identifying those responsible.
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It read: “Ajax finds what happened in the stadium tonight utterly scandalous. We apologise to everyone affected in any way. The safety of spectators and players has been jeopardised. This is unacceptable. We emphatically distance ourselves from this misconduct. Fireworks have no place in the stadium.
“Spectators in the affected section of the stadium were frisked. Dogs were also deployed to detect fireworks, both inside the stadium before it opened and as spectators entered. Other preventative measures were also implemented. Despite this, we were unable to prevent this situation.
“We will, of course, review the camera footage to try to identify the perpetrators and investigate in other ways who is responsible. If this leads to the identification of perpetrators, we will take appropriate action.”
Ajax are currently six in the Eredivisie, some 16 points behind league leaders PSV. They came into Sunday’s game without a win since late October and have been beaten in their last two outings with Excelsior recently coming to Amsterdam and leaving with all three points.
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