More than 100,000 people packed into Amsterdam's Museumplein on Thursday afternoon to celebrate Ajax's league and cup double. The father and brother of Abdelhak Nouri, the young Ajax player felled by brain damage in July 2017, took to the stage to show the championship shield to fans. Nouri played in shirt number 34 and all the team were wearing number 34 shirts on the podium in his honour - and in honour of the club's 34th league title, which was Nouri's ambition. At one point police urged people planning to travel to the festivities to stay home because the area was full to overflowing. The Museumplein is full, city officials said on Twitter. WIJ ZIJN #AJAX! ❌❌❌#nummer34 pic.twitter.com/llF94VKt0s — AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) May 16, 2019 The Van Gogh and Stedelijk museums were closed because of the expected crowds, and three secondary schools were forced to move school final exams to a new location because of the noise and disturbance. YouTube live-stream for the Ajax celebrations: https://t.co/w9xda3BNvK — AFC Ajax 💫 (@TheEuropeanLad) May 16, 2019 On Wednesday evening, Ajax clinched the Dutch Eredivisie title for the first time since 2014 and earlier took the KNVB Cup for the first time in nine years. The Amsterdammers also narrowly failed to make the Champions League final. Dusan Tadic this season for Ajax: 56 games 38 goals 24 assists -Joint top scorer in the Eredivisie -Champions League semi-finalist -Eredivisie and KNVB Cup winner What a bargain at an initial €11.4 million pic.twitter.com/Y5RlWAtu9f — Dutch Football (@FootballOranje_) May 16, 2019   More >

The Hague has followed Amsterdam and decided not to take part in the government's experiment with regulated marijuana cultivation, saying the plan is unworkable. 'We consider the conditions are not sufficiently practical,' The Hague's mayor Pauline Krikke said. The decision is based on conversations with licenced coffee shop owners in the city. 'Their lack of support is a clear signal,' Krikke said in a briefing to councillors. The experiment with regulated growing is supposed to remove the gray area between the sale of marijuana in council-licenced coffee shops and the illegal cultivation and supply. However, there are so many problems with the proposals that the Dutch local authorities association VNG said at the end of last year it will now be difficult to find 10 councils which want to take part One issue is with the four year trial period, which will not be extended, even if the experiment is successful. This means that coffee shop owners will be forced back into the illegal circuit after four years of selling ‘legal’ marijuana. Another objection is the requirement that all coffee shops within a council area take part in the scheme. Councils have until June 11 to sign up to take part.  More >

Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin has left the Giro d'Italia shortly after the start of the fifth stage. Dumoulin had a bad fall on Tuesday and injured his knee, finishing at over four minutes from overall race lead Primoz Roglic. A second Giro win was not on the cards, Dumoulin concluded at the time. ‘I will sleep on it but I won’t classify,’ he told broadcaster NOS. On Wednesday Dumoulin consulted with his doctor and decided to start the stage to Terracina after all. But as the rain came down, Dumoulin dropped out after only a few minutes. ‘I was pessimistic but wanted to try anyway, so I wouldn’t have anything to reproach myself for,’ the 2017 Giro winner said.   More >

This Sunday’s marathon in Utrecht ended in chaos after some 1,800 runners were sent the wrong way, doing twice the distance they expected or finishing in a residential street Dutch media reported. Matthijs Klaasse, who was running the quarter marathon, told broadcaster NOS that he though he had 500 metres to go. ‘I did not see a finish at all,’ he said. ‘There were no supporters. I was in the middle of a residential district.’ WoW, wat is dit bizar! Halve Marathon Utrecht komt langs ons huis, maar dit is niet de route! Gevolg: fietsers, automobilisten en bussen in de knel. Op het kruispunt loopt het verkeer vast. Wat ging hier mis? pic.twitter.com/kSCsoyM1Zj — Miriam (@boekmama) May 12, 2019 The problem was in the signposting, which was made up of yellow boards for the full marathon, green for the half and blue for the quarter, broadcaster NOS said. However, there were very few blue boards, leading to hundreds of runners going wrong. This meant the quarter marathon, which should have been an ‘urban course through the centre’ ended up as a mystery tour, NOS said. The organisers said that the results of the quarter marathon will not be published. ‘This should not have happened, and we will talk to everyone who took part,’ a spokesman told broadcaster NOS. A chaotic race, a bit of sun and the ambition to cross the finish line - the story of Utrecht Half Marathon 🙏✅🏃‍♀️ #HalfMarathon #medal #proudfinisher pic.twitter.com/mPsKS5JZsk — Iulia Toea (@iuliatoea) May 12, 2019   More >