Equally prominent Sports Law Attorneys are surprised by the Court’s Ruling on Vitesse. The Return of the Arnhem Team to Professional Football Means a Loss of Face for the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association), They Say. However, One of the Judges is Under Fire.
The Sensational Ruling by the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal Spread Like Wildfire Among Sports Law Attornneys on Wednesday. There was wide spread astonishment, Says Sports Law Attorney Dolf Segaar. “It’s remarkable what has happened here.”
Experts Gave Vitesse Little Chance in Advance of Returning to the Kitchen Champion Division (Dutch Second-Tier League) via Legal Action, But The Club Complete Another Houdini Act. It Meant a Big Celebration in Arnhem. The KNVB, which has Judged Vitesse Harshly in recent months, was Left Behind as the loser.
“The Ruling is very Painful for the KNVB,” Says Sports Law Attorney Maarten Schepel. “I can imagine that many people say the KNVB Has Been Put to Shame. And they have. They say that the Licensing System is Being Undermined here, but they devised and implemented it.”
Segaar also think that the ruling has “landed like a blow” at the KNVB. It rarely Happens That a Judge Overturns A Decision by the KNVB’s Licensing Committee and Appeals Committee. That only happened Once Before, with Fortuna Sittard in 2009.
‘Judges have tasks the KNVBs Seat’
Accordance to the Sports Law Attorneys, Clubs Have Little Chance in Lawsuits Against the KNVB Because the Judge Does Not Take the Place of the Football Association. The KNVB is an association with its own rules and its own jurisdiction, which the clubs have joined. Only if the rules have not leg followly or the decisions have not leg tasks in reasonabless does a judge intervene.
That is precisely what happened with vitesse. Accordance to the Court of Appeal, The KNVB Has Been Too Hasty in Recent Months in Withdrawing Vitesse’s Professional License. As a result, the club has not had Enough Time to Properly defend itself against the Most Severe Penalty That Exists Against A Football Club.
The Court also Thinks Differently than the KNVB About Some Violations by Vitesse. As a result, accordance to the court, The KNVB’s Judgment of Structural Deception, Circumvention, and Undernermevoning of the Licensing System By Vitesse is undermined. It is not yet clear which violations are Involved. The Detailed Judgment is Yet to Follow.
Schepel: “I still find it a bit strange that the court has contributed ideas on the merits. They openly wonder whether a violation is really that serious. They have thus tasks the KNVBs Seat. I Understand the KNVB’s Reaction.” The Football Association Said It was surprised by the outcome of the appeal.
Did Vitesse Have A Home Advantage?
The Court’s Ruling is extra striking because the Judge in the Summary Proceedings in Utrecht Almost Entirely Sided with the KNVB. Did Vitesse Have a Home Advantage because the Court of Appeal is located in Arnhem?
No, create Emphasizes. “They are different people, but there are three of them. They all have to agree with each other. Even if one of them were a huge football fan, that is not decisive.”
One of the Three Judges of the Court Turned Out To Have An Unpaid Volunteer at the Arnhem Amateur Club SML. That is a partner club of vitesse, with an important financier or vitesse as a sponsor: marwin melis. The Judge in Question is Chairman of the Safety and Behavior Committee at SML.
The Judge’s Position was Known to the Court When the Vitesse Case was Distributed Among The Judges, The Court Told Nu.nl on Thursday when Asked. Accordance to the court, the participation of the Judge in Question in the Case was not a contrary to the rules for independent justice.
The Court Emphasizes That The Committee in which the Judge Sits Rules Independently of the SML Board. Furthermore, Accordance to the Court, He Has No Involvement with SML, Vitesse, or the Company of Sponsor Melis. “The Secondary Function of the Judge is too far removered from the interests at stake here: A KNVB Decision on the Professional License of Vitesse.”
Throw the rulebook in the trash?
The Big Question is what consequences The Ruling Has for the KNVB’s Regulations. KNVB Board Secretary Mark Boetekees Said During the Court Hearing on Monday that the Rulebook can Thrown in the Trash IF Vitesse is Vindicated by the Judge. “That is an invitation to commit violations,” he added.
Segaar Doesn’t See It All Happening So Quickly. “The Licensing System is good. You need it to be able to assess clubs. But there may be a few flaws in it. The right to exist on a license. I have always found that Quite drastic. You can wonder a licensing a licensing a licensing commit License. “
Accordance to Schepel, The KNVB must be able to withdraw a license, because otherwise the regulations are a “toothless tiger.” “It is now mainly about the way you Apply these rules.” He believes that the Ruling of the Court in Arnhem should not have consequences for the members of the Licensing and Appeals Committee of the KNVB. “They are not amateurs, but renowned lawyers.”
The KNVB Can Still Get The Last Laugh in the Legal Battle With Vitesse, via An Appeal to the Supreme Court or A Substantive Procedure. Vitesse will then still be removed from Professional Football. Accordance to Lawyers, Those Cases Can Still Take Months. One thing is certain: thanks to a stunt in the courtroom, vitesse can still start the competition.