“Football is emotion. It can also go in any direction in terms of imaging. During the European Championship, football was the great connector, a welcome change in a society full of polarization. Two months later, professional football only costs society a lot of money,” van Leeuwen kicks off the picture sketched.
“The one who throws out facts is often the one party pooper during discussions, but sometimes it is necessary to value gut feelings. For example, the image recently emerged that football is consuming the entire police capacity. That is of course not correct. The number of hours that the police spend on football has even fallen by thirty percent in the last twenty years. And we are happy to help reduce this number further.”
Of course, the football world does not close its eyes to things that go wrong and/or need improvement. But, as Van Leeuwen emphasizes in her letter The Telegraphwhich has also been published on the KNVB website, images are mainly created by incidents.
“Of course we are also very disappointed when things go wrong somewhere, but is it really doom and gloom? We asked 25,000 stadium visitors and they rated their football afternoon or evening with a 7.7 and their safety with a 7.9. That is not surprising, because every season 99 percent of the more than 800 matches in the Dutch competitions take place without large-scale disruptions. We are not going to convince football haters, but this is what the people who do come to a stadium think.”
Van Leeuwen emphasizes that clubs spend millions of euros every year on their safety organizations. “As a result, the chance of being caught for those causing nuisance is a lot higher than outside the stadium. The perpetrators can at least face a national stadium ban and a hefty fine.”
‘Where do the baker, bus driver, IT person and sales manager still sit next to each other for ninety minutes every week? In the 34 stadiums in our country.’
“Is everything all roses and moonshine then? No, the world is not ideal, not even in the stadiums,” Van Leeuwen continues. “The clubs receive around two hundred thousand people every week. That is the same as the number of inhabitants of Amersfoort or Almere. Where many people come together, less pleasant things also happen.”
“Furthermore, football has been unfortunate in that it has been embraced by something of an international phenomenon since the 1970s. By that I emphatically do not mean those who create the atmosphere in the stadiums, because we are very happy with that, but the groups in which misbehavior puts you a step higher on their monkey rock. Nowadays this mainly happens outside the stadiums. Let it be clear that we would also rather lose these people than be rich.”
Van Leeuwen emphasizes the importance of painting a complete and correct picture when it comes to football. Often only the incidents are widely highlighted and brought to attention. This creates a distorted picture of reality.
“Not everyone has to love football the way we do, but if you mention the costs in discussions, then you also have to look at the returns. Professional football contributes 2.8 billion euros to the treasury every year, it has been reported PwC calculated.”
“Countless children are inspired by top football to play sports and exercise themselves. That is a major boost for public health. And the connecting value of football is unparalleled. Where do the baker, bus driver, IT person and sales manager still sit next to each other for ninety minutes every week? In the 34 stadiums in our country.”
The KNVB also published the annual report on the number of incidents per season on Thursday. This shows that the 2023/2024 football year is the second season in a row in which the number of incidents fell further. The figure is eleven percent below that of the 2022/2023 season and sixteen percent below that of the previous season.
“So let’s the eyes on the ball keep. And this ball is rolling in the right direction,” Van Leeuwen concludes her letter.
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