KNVB puts Barendrecht out of playoffs after video of intentional loss goes viral

A remarkable case in amateur soccer: BVV Barendrecht has been penalized with four points deduction for deliberately losing its last league game. A major reason for the case was a video of a goal that went viral.

The penalty means Barendrecht, playing in the third division, will miss out on the playoffs for promotion. Against GVVV they lost 3-4. Barendrecht was leading 3-1, but due to the intermediate positions on other fields, a remarkable situation came about: only in case of defeat would the club from South Holland take over a period title.

And losing did Barendrecht, which finished third in the league and took over the second period from champions ACV. GVVV thus won the third period. The video below went viral after which Sparta Nijkerk, which would have taken the third period if GVVV had lost, filed a complaint.

Barendrecht’s entire defense did little more against GVVV, as evidenced by the video below:

Deliberate losing is not allowed, according to the KNVB. And for that Barendrecht, which will not appeal, is now penalized. “It cannot be denied that we offered no resistance in the closing stages of our match against GVVV,” said chairman Jeroen Nagtegaal on behalf of BVV Barendrecht.

Despite this, Nagtegaal is critical of the league format. “Our players and staff, who are given performance goals every season and judged accordingly, are fighting for 34 games to reach the nacompetition, so when the last chance to do so arises just before time the team seizes it.”

“But we are also not deaf to the criticism that our attitude was not sporting. The disciplinary committee has now ruled that other parts of the regulations carry more weight and therefore a sanction has been imposed. Like our own position, we can also follow that view.”

Because of the KNVB penalty, Barendrecht drops in the rankings and SteDeCo gets the spot in the playoffs. And thus not Sparta Nijkerk, which brought the case.