An appeals court suspended the KNVB licensing committee and appeals committee decisions to withdraw Vitesse Arnhem's professional licence and ordered immediate re-admission to professional competitions. A prior civil court ruling had sided with the KNVB, appearing to confirm that the 133-year-old club would be removed from the Netherlands' second tier. The suspension triggered wild celebrations among supporters in Arnhem and at the club's training ground. The KNVB had previously docked Vitesse 18 points during the 2023-24 season and relegated the club; further point deductions left Vitesse bottom of the second tier. The KNVB cited a multi-year pattern of deception, circumvention, undermining, and lack of transparency.
Vitesse Arnhem have been dealt a dramatic reprieve after an appeals court ruled against the Royal Dutch Football Association's (KNVB) decision to revoke their professional licence. Vitesse looked doomed after a civil court in Utrecht judged in favour of the KNVB last month, appearing to confirm the 133-year-old club would be kicked out of the Netherlands' second division. Many supporters were resigned to at least one season in the cold after no arrangement to continue in amateur football could be reached, but they will now be able to watch their team again after a shock turnaround on Wednesday.
The Arnhem-Leeuwarden court of appeal heard Vitesse's case on Monday, with some experts suggesting the club had no more than a 1% chance of success. But it has suspended the decision of the KNVB's licensing committee and appeals committee to withdraw the licence and ordered the governing body to immediately re-admit Vitesse to professional competitions. The ruling sparked wild celebration in the centre of Arnhem and at the club's training ground.
It is the latest astonishing twist in a long, complex saga that led to Vitesse losing their licence last month over what the KNVB's appeals committee called a multi-year pattern of deception, circumvention, and undermining of the licensing system, as well as a lack of transparency. Vitesse had been docked 18 points during the 2023-24 season and were relegated to the second tier. Further deductions meant they also finished bottom of that division last season.
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