This year’s KNVB Cup competition will continue without amateur clubs because of coronavirus restrictions, the Dutch football association said on Tuesday.

‘The amateur clubs cannot train in a normal way, let alone play a match, and they are now being excluded,’ Jan Dirk van der Zee told a football television show.

In total, 26 amateur clubs had a place in the starting line-up of the cup competition, and will miss out on €10,000 in fees because of the exclusion.

Eleven first round matches have already been played because they involved professional clubs, but 17 other first-round ties are still open and involve clubs which are not yet allowed to pay competitive matches because of the coronavirus restrictions.

‘We expect it will mid January at best before normal competition can resume,’ Van der Zee said.

The current restrictions include a ban on all team sports involving more than four players, apart from professional football.