Ajax's bid to reach the Champions League final has been given a huge boost after Dutch FA bosses decided to cancel every Eredivisie fixture before their first-leg clash with Tottenham.
The title-chasing Amsterdam club were scheduled to face relegation-threatened De Graafschap on April 28 – just two days before they meet Spurs at the new White Hart Lane.
But the Dutch KNVB are so keen to help Ajax get a positive result in London that they have announced the game has been postponed.
And in a bid to maintain the integrity of a title race in which Ajax top the table only by virtue of goal difference from PSV Eindhoven, they have decided to cancel ALL games in the penultimate round of the championship.
The Dutch season will be extended, with those games now taking place on Wednesday, May 15.
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The switch has angered some clubs. But KNVB president Eric Gudde said: “We have looked at all kinds of ways to move games with Ajax progressing so far in the Champions League.
“We have presented our plans to all of the clubs.
“It is not ideal for everyone, I appreciate that, but this is not just helping Ajax.
“It is being done to help Dutch football as a whole because it means so much to be successful in Europe.”
Premier League bosses Pep Guardiola, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have all questioned why the Premier League has been unwilling to help English clubs competing in Europe by being more creative with fixture scheduling.
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The Dutch FA have brought games forward in the past to give their teams more time to prepare.
But this is the first time an entire round of matches has been cancelled to help a single club.
Ajax face a hectic schedule as they look to end a five-year trophy drought by landing a Treble.
As well as challenging for the title and Champions League, they are also though to the Dutch Cup final and will meet Willem II on May 5, three days before the return game with Spurs at the Amsterdam Arena.
