Ajax guarded their lead at the top of the Eredivisie standings on Sunday courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Vitesse. That was however overshadowed by a banner mocking ailing football legend Johan Cruyff.
- By Amos Abuga
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The very visible banner at the GelreDome stadium with the letters ‘JHK’, which stands for ‘Jews have cancer’, will go down as the most insensitive occurrence’s from the 2015/ 2016 football season.
This occurred in spite of the sportsmanship of fans from both sides on Sunday having a minute of applause, for Cruyff, whose condition of lung cancer was made public late last week. The celebrated footballer was applauded in the 14th minute, due to his iconic jersey number.
His previous stint as a player and manager with the club from the capital did not guarantee the animosity from a section of the Vitesse fans, or by extension the mastermind of the obnoxious message from the banner.
Banter is a natural part of any workplace and sport is no exception, however caution needs to be taken for there is a thin line between banter and insensitivity. That message was deeply offensive not only to Cruyff , (who needs our support and encouragement) but also to his family and the football world at large.
Vitesse director Joost de Wit condemned the banner after the game, “ The club is doing everything possible to identity those behind the banner. As a club we do everything to keep individuals with wrong intention’s out of the stadium.
“What happened was unfortunate and never the stand of the club. Such behavior is not befitting of our club,”
Also the official supporters club of the Arnhem criticized the shameful banner, one they did not want to be associated with.
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Amos is a Kenyan who is passionate with sports but has a bias for football. Currently doing his MBA course from the Greenwich and Saxion Universities. follow him on Twitter @AMOKC1oo1
