Go Ahead Eagles, the KNVB and the police did not observe any chants about referee Rob Dieperink during the practice match between the club from Deventer and Apollon Limassol. The referee died two days after that match.

After Dieperink’s death, there were rumors online that negative chants could have been heard at the match on Saturday. These allegedly concerned, among other things, Dieperink’s arrest on suspicion of assaulting an underage boy, a case that was quickly dismissed. According to rumors, the chants played a role in the referee’s death.

“As a club, we have not observed anything and the KNVB has not observed anything. We have also been in contact with the police today and they have not observed anything either,” a club spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Statement Eagles

In conversation with Go Ahead Eagles director Jan Willem van Dop responded to the allegations. “During the match, we as a club did not observe any offensive comments. If, nevertheless, something inappropriate was shouted by individual spectators, we emphatically disapprove. Such behavior does not suit our club and we naturally distance ourselves from it.”

Van Dop also spoke with Dieperink after the practice match. “I went to the dressing room and shook Rob’s hand and said: ‘Good to have you back.’ Even then, there was nothing to show that Rob had been treated unfairly.”