FC Groningen-Ajax suspended in ninth minute after second time fireworks on pitch

The FC Groningen-Ajax Eredivisie match Sunday was stopped in the ninth minute by referee Jeroen Manschot after fireworks were thrown onto the pitch twice. It is not yet clear when the rest of the game will be played out.

In the sixth minute, when the score was 0-0, smoke bombs were thrown onto the field from the section with Groningen supporters. Shortly afterwards, a fan ran onto the field with a banner, using coarse language asking the club’s board to leave. The supporter was eventually caught in the collar.

After a short break, the players returned to the field, after which things soon went wrong again. Again, smoke bombs were thrown from inside the box. Soccer association KNVB recently tightened its guidelines after several incidents. For a second offense, a game is stopped according to the new guidelines.

It is not the first time this weekend that a duel was halted. On Saturday it happened at FC Volendam-Sparta and FC Utrecht-RKC when a drinking cup was thrown, just like FC Twente-NEC a day before. Also in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, some encounters were temporarily suspended.

Unlike in Groningen, all those duels did resume.