During the soccer match between the amateurs of JOS Watergraafsmeer and Excelsior’31 on Saturday, a sad and remarkable incident occurred. The father of the JOS coach suffered a cardiac arrest, but after resuscitation, the coach decided to resume the match.
On a livestream of Excelsior’31 TV, it can be seen how the emergency services are massively present at Sportpark Drieburg in Amsterdam in the 68th minute. A police spokesperson told NU.nl that a spectator had to be resuscitated after suffering a cardiac arrest.
It turned out to be the father of the home team’s coach, Richard Plug. The match was then stopped, and at the behest of the police, the spectators left the grandstand. At that moment, the players of JOS Watergraafsmeer were shaken on the field.
The spectator was then taken to the hospital by ambulance. According to Excelsior’31, the stadium speaker announced that the man had died, but that turned out not to be the case. The police told NU.nl that the man was alive when he was taken away by ambulance.
At the urging of the JOS coach, the match was resumed half an hour later. “Richard told his team that he just wanted to play soccer, because he might not be up to it on Wednesday either,” said coach Michel Steggink of Excelsior’31 to his club’s television channel. “A lot of respect for him.”
JOS Watergraafsmeer resumed the match with a 2-1 lead, but Excelsior’31 equalized in the remainder. That meant that JOS missed out on promotion to the Third Division, and Excelsior’31 maintained its place on the fourth level of the Netherlands.