A seriously ill Ajax fan will be the only supporter in attendance when the Eredivisie side complete their abandoned game against Groningen on Tuesday afternoon.
The fan, named Peter, is living in a hospice and had expressed the wish to attend an Ajax game for potentially the final time. They arranged for him to visit the fixture on Sunday but there was immense disappointment when it was curtailed within five minutes of kick-off owing to a huge pyrotechnic display by a section of the support.
Fireworks were thrown again when an attempt to resume was made 40 minutes later and the remainder was scheduled to take place on Tuesday. Although the game will officially take place behind closed doors, Ajax have allowed Peter to fulfil his wish and watch from the stands.
“Peter has played football all his life, has also been a referee, and follows Ajax closely,” said André, a staff member from the WensenAmbulance Noord-Holland charity, quoted by RTL News. “Football is his whole life, so [the hospice] wanted to let him go to one last match.”
André, who accompanied Peter along with Peter’s adult son, recounted the events of an afternoon that turned sour. “When we arrived at the stadium, we were given excellent guidance by the stewards,” he said. “We got a great spot behind the goal. Peter was very disappointed [by the abandonment]. This is, of course, incredibly frustrating.”
A raft of posts on social media had highlighted Peter’s plight and urged that he be granted access to the rescheduled game. WensenAmbulance Noord-Holland, a charity that helps people who are dying or have serious chronic illnesses to fulfil their final wishes, have confirmed that Peter will be allowed to attend. He will be present at Amsterdam Arena to watch his beloved Ajax, in sixth place, take on seventh-placed Groningen.
Sunday’s abandonment prompted Ajax to “emphatically distance ourselves from this misconduct” and describe the fans’ behaviour “utterly outrageous”. The supporters in question are believed to have been commemorating a deceased fan. The Eredivisie will conduct an investigation into the events that led to the game being stopped.
