‘Disappointing doesn’t cover it, it’s terrible’
NOS Football–
That the flame flared during Feyenoord-Ajax was partly due to a riot in which Rotterdam captain Orkun Kökçü reacted fiercely to a provocation by Dusan Tadic. That a spectator then caused Davy Klaassen a head wound is something for which Feyenoord coach Arne Slot is deeply ashamed.
Kökcü initially thought the match was only interrupted because of tensions between the players.
Kökçü on riot with Tadic: ‘Just a riot, not offended’
“I didn’t even realize that at first, it was only when I saw blood on Klaassen that I understood that’s why we had to go in,” Kökçü explained. “You don’t wish that on anyone and something like that doesn’t belong in such a beautiful match.”
Tadic gestured toward his mouth and the grass prior to the uproar. For a moment it was thought to be a derogatory reference to the Ramadan that Kökçü is currently doing.
Kökçü himself did not have that idea. “No,” he replied when asked if Tadic had insulted him. “It was a riot like there are more often and we should not make that bigger than it was.”
Watch reactions from manager competition affairs professional soccer Jan Bluyssen and Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam, below.
“Of course you absolutely don’t want to see this on a soccer field,” Slot said. “Let alone at the club where you are head coach.”
“It was an incredibly disappointing moment. And I could actually use much worse words for this. Because disappointing doesn’t cover it, it’s obviously terrible.”
Watch post-match reactions from coach Arne Slot and John Heitinga below.
