Vitesse is on the verge of collapse. The Arnhem-based football club lost the important appeal against the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) regarding its professional license on Thursday. Only the court can save Vitesse from downfall.
The KNVB’s licensing committee revoked Vitesse’s professional license earlier this month because the club has “structurally and over a long period circumvented and undermined the licensing system.” Without a professional license, Vitesse is not allowed to participate in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie (second-tier league).
Vitesse acknowledged having made mistakes in the past but disagreed with the punishment and appealed to the KNVB. As a result, an appeals committee of the football association re-examined the case. They ruled against Vitesse after a secret hearing last Friday.
“The appeals committee concludes that there is a multi-year pattern of deception, circumvention, and undermining of the licensing system and a lack of transparency,” the committee writes in a statement.
“This pattern has proven to be structural, serious, and persistent in the opinion of the appeals committee,” continue the anonymous committee members, who kept Vitesse in suspense for hours on Thursday. “The appeals committee is therefore of the opinion that the withdrawal of the license is justified.”
Due to the decision, there is a high chance that Vitesse will disappear from professional football. The second oldest professional club in the Netherlands (since 1892), which won the KNVB Cup in 2017 and played European football three years ago, can only obtain a license through the court.
Vitesse says in an initial response that it expects to file a summary proceeding. The club reacts “dismayed” to the news. “The club has worked intensively in the past period on recovery, transparency, and future-proofing,” the club said in a statement.
“Vitesse has done everything possible to convince first the licensing committee and then the appeals committee that the decision of the licensing committee is incorrect and does not pay sufficient attention to all efforts in and for Arnhem.”
It is not yet clear when a possible summary proceeding will serve. The civil court will only consider whether the KNVB has come to a judgment in a careful manner. Clarity will have to come quickly: the new season in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie starts next Friday.
Vitesse in deep crisis for 3.5 years
Thus, the end of Vitesse seems to be approaching after a long period of crisis. The club has been struggling with major financial, administrative, and sporting problems for 3.5 years. Vitesse was already in danger of disappearing last year, but after a late rescue attempt, the KNVB’s appeals committee granted the Arnhem team a license a week before the start of the competition.
The problems at Vitesse are now even greater than last year when the club mainly had financial problems. According to the KNVB’s licensing committee, Vitesse has not complied with important agreements and conditions of the football association for more than a year.
Last year, Vitesse and the KNVB made agreements for the future when the club was rescued. One of the agreements was that the American investor Coley Parry should not have influence at the club in the search for a new owner.
The supervisory board (rvc) of Vitesse and a foundation specially established by Vitesse had to supervise this by the football association. The new owner also had to be thoroughly investigated by Vitesse.
Vitesse flouted agreements
The licensing committee suspects that Parry still exercised control over Vitesse in the background. The American, to whom Vitesse owed 17 million euros, is said to have played an important role in Vitesse’s winter takeover by five foreigners.
Hard evidence for this has never been shared. But one of the owners, the Italian Bryan Mornaghi, turned out to be a former classmate of Parry. At the time of the takeover, the members of the rvc of Vitesse were dismissed from their positions, which was against the agreements.
According to the KNVB’s licensing committee, the specially established foundation that supervised the Vitesse shares also did not work properly. According to the committee, there has also been no thorough investigation into the new owners.
That is not the only thing that Vitesse is charged with. The licensing committee asked several times for the agreement that the owners had concluded with Parry, but they were not allowed to see it in full. Reportedly, the redemption amount in the secret contract was blacked out.
Licensing committee scathing about Vitesse
For the licensing committee, that was the last straw. Vitesse was first given two point deductions, as a result of which the club finished the season with 27 penalty points and had to start the new season with 12 penalty points. Then Vitesse still shared the full contract, but it was too late.
“There is a pattern of lack of transparency and structural circumvention of (the objectives of) the licensing system by Vitesse,” wrote the licensing committee. “Nothing indicates that Vitesse will be able to (and want to) function within the framework of the licensing system.”
Thus, a rescue attempt by a group of regional investors also seems to come too late. The financiers had already reached a deal with the foreign owners to take over all Vitesse shares and also guaranteed the shortage of 2.5 million euros in the budget. The KNVB had not yet approved them as owners.
Vitesse had pulled out even more to convince the appeals committee. Timo Braasch, one of the foreign owners, had to resign as general manager last week and thousands of fans showed their support for the club via social media and with actions on the streets in Arnhem.
The Arnhem mayor Ahmed Marcouch also sent a letter to the KNVB to emphasize the importance of Vitesse for the city and the local community. All that was of no avail.
