Dutch Eredivisie avoids chaos as court dismisses nationality lawsuit

A Dutch court on Monday dismissed a legal challenge by NAC Breda seeking to force a replay of their league match against Go Ahead Eagles, a ruling that averted a potential logistical crisis for the Eredivisie.

NAC were contesting a 6-0 defeat on March 15, arguing that Go Ahead Eagles defender Dean James should not have been allowed to play because the defender had lost his Dutch nationality after taking Indonesian citizenship in order to represent the Asian country in World Cup qualifiers, rendering him ineligible under Dutch football regulations.

The Utrecht court sided with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which had declined to approve a replay.

Although the KNVB acknowledged that James should technically have been ineligible because of the passport issue, it argued that neither the club nor the player had been aware at the time that his change of nationality would automatically carry legal consequences.

"The KNVB’s competition management was entitled to decide that the match did not need to be replayed, despite the fact that one of the players was not eligible to play," the court said in a statement, adding that the KNVB's decision was taken with sufficient and reasonable consideration of all interests involved.

The verdict ended a period of significant uncertainty for Dutch football. The KNVB had warned that a ruling in NAC's favour could have triggered a "snowball effect", potentially placing more than 130 matches under legal scrutiny.

“Of course, it’s never pleasant to find ourselves in court against one of our clubs. The court ruled that the league board acted diligently and in accordance with the applicable rules," KNVB said in a statement to Reuters.

“NAC Breda raised an important issue, which we were fortunately able to resolve quickly through a great deal of joint effort. That is important for the present and for the future.”

For NAC, who were ordered by the judge to pay the KNVB’s legal costs, the ruling is a significant blow to their survival hopes.

They are second bottom of the Eredivisie, six points adrift of the safety zone with two matches remaining in the season.

NAC could not immediately be reached for comment, but they told Dutch media they would not appeal if the judge ruled against them.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam, editing by Ed Osmond)