Sports organisations have strongly criticised leaked government plans to ban spectators from matches for three weeks.

Football club Go Ahead-Eagles director Jan Willem van Dop was one of the critics, according to NOS broadcaster. ‘This is completely unexpected and will cost hundreds of thousands, per match,’ he reportedly commented. ‘You assume that rules are based on facts but how many infections have there been in football stadiums? This has been researched.’

Dutch football association the KNVB said in a statement that it was ‘more than frustrating that the government apparently doesn’t look at the hotspots of infection’ and accused politicians in The Hague of ‘not knowing what they are doing any more.’

Het is meer dan frustrerend om te zien dat het kabinet kennelijk niet naar de besmettingshaarden kijkt, want die vonden niet in de stadions plaats. Lees hier het statement van het betaald voetbal:
https://t.co/uHSO8Kc2DH

— KNVB (@KNVB) November 12, 2021

Meanwhile the going-out sector, which has actively demonstrated against restrictions in recent months, has already been critical of leaked plans to make them close at 7pm for three weeks.

‘It would be stupid to make cafes, bars and restaurants shut earlier if you think that people will just meet up more in private settings,’ chairman of the Koninklijke Horeca Nederland hospitality industry association Robèr Willemsen, told the Volkskrant.